


Run Away with Me

by NariNyxx



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Doctor Who 50th Anniversary, Eleventh Doctor Era, Eventual Romance, F/M, Multiple Doctors (Doctor Who), Ninth Doctor Era, Romance, Science Fiction, Tenth Doctor Era, Time Travel, Time War (Doctor Who), the Master - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:14:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 37,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22078303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NariNyxx/pseuds/NariNyxx
Summary: Willow Smith was always known for running away from her problems rather than face reality for her actions. After returning home from leaving the country, she is given a gift from her father that throws her into the Doctor's life with a mission in mind. And that is, to stop Gallifrey from burning. 10xOC, 11xOC (Time Travel fanfic that spans between 9-11's run).
Relationships: Eleventh Doctor/Original Character(s), Eleventh Doctor/Original Female Character(s), Ninth Doctor/Rose Tyler, Tenth Doctor/Original Character(s), Tenth Doctor/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 38





	1. Prologue

_Thursday 13th March 2008_

Captain Jack was never particularly known to be covert. Which is why it came to be no surprise that when he had arrived in London; more specifically in Battersea Power station which had been abandoned for a number of years, his old colleague had been aware of his arrival.

“Hello Jack.”

“Michael.” Jack returned his greeting. “Why are you here in this timeline?” Michael glanced down at a device that looked the spitting image as Jack’s on his wrist. It was called the Vortex Manipulator, a powerful device that allowed Time Agents to travel across time and space.

“I had an emergency signal sent to me from here. Was it from you?” Jack shook his head and took a seat on nearby stairs a few feet away from him. He was exhausted. Jack had travelled day and night to get his way to London after receiving the distress signal he had received on his vortex manipulator. It was a nifty gadget. If a time agent or traveler was in distress, they could send a distress signal and the closest time agents would be able to respond. He however, had been hoping that it had been a specific Time Lord that had sent that feed to him.

“I had been hoping it was from an old friend of mine. I’ve been stuck here for way too long with this not working.” He tapped his device aimlessly, his had burnt out many years ago and Jack had been stuck two hundred years in the past since he’d managed to escape from the space station which had been orbiting a Dalek devastated Earth in the year 200,100.

“Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you.” Voice thick with newfound sarcasm. After living in England for many years, Michael’s thick Jersey accent really seemed to stick out to Jack.

“Hang on a minute though.” Michael continued, whilst looking increasingly uncomfortable. “If you hadn’t sent this signal...who did?” Jack felt his insides freeze.

“Michael, we need to get out of here now! It’s a trap-!”

_Bang_

A door from downstairs had been either slammed open or shut. Neither of them knew, but they didn’t want to find out.

Both men paused.

_Bang_

The door had been slammed shut.

_Tap. Tap. Tap._ The sound of footsteps echoed the hall. Jack stood from his spot on the stairs and ran over to Michael, in a panic he grabbed Michael’s wrist which had the time traveling device strapped on.

“You have to get out of here!” Michael’s face had paled as he shook his head.

“I can’t! Coming here used the last of its juice. It’s got to recharge.”

“You mean to tell me you came to a distress signal with no means to escape?!” Jack shrieked, horrified.

“Well, so did you!” Michael bit back. Jack cried out in frustration as he frantically looked around the hall for an escape route. Now was not the time to explain to his old colleague about his special ability to not die courtesy of Bad Wolf.

“There must be someway to get out of here?!” Jack felt a hand on his shoulder and he tensed.

“I think it’s too late.” Michael’s words made Jack’s blood run cold. He turned around and noticed a hooded figure standing at the doorway which had been their only entrance and exit from the building.

“Who are you?!” Michael asked with such courage that Jack had to commend him for the situation that they had been in.

The figure remained silent as it started to take a few steps towards them. Michael threw himself in front of Jack.

“Try and find a way out, Jack! I’ll keep him preoccupied.” Jack went to argue but Michael turned to the figure again. Determined to not show the figure how frightened he was.

“ _What_ are you?!” Michael cried out as the figure continued his approach on them.

“Get out Jack!” Michael repeated. His voice thickly laced with fear, no longer hiding it. His eyes still trained on the figure in front of him.

A laser shot out from the hooded cloak’s sleeve and shot through where Michael’s heart lay. Jack felt as though a bucket of iced water had been tipped over his head.

Michael’s face glazed over in shock as he instantly fell to the floor. Dead.

The maniacal laughter echoed through the hall. The figure was human. However Jack had no time to dwell on it as his focus had been diverted elsewhere.

“Michael!” Jack fell down to his friend’s side. “Michael, you have to get up.” His efforts were futile.

There was a moment of silence, the only sound that could be heard was Jack’s heavy breathing in disbelief, shock and anguish.

“Who are you?!” Demanded Jack. His grief was short lived and anger flooded in his veins. He turned to face the hooded cloak and to find that he had already disappeared.

“Goddammit!” Jack’s grip on Michael tightened as he let out a cry in anguish. “Michael, wake up!” Denial flooding through his veins as he begged for him to wake up. There was nothing that he could do.

Seconds felt like minutes. Those minutes had felt like hours. He sat there with Michael’s body cradled in his arms. Michael’s body getting colder with every minute that had past. It was only when daylight had passed and night fell that he had realized he had to leave.

Knowing that a Time Traveling device in the wrong hands could cause chaos and destroy timelines, Jack ripped the Vortex Manipulator off of Michael’s wrist and ran out of the building.

For all he knew, the person in the hooded cloak could come back and he didn’t want to linger around any longer to find out.


	2. Chapter 1

_Friday 14th March 2008  
_ _Croydon, England_

"Wait, what did you say was the date today?!" A man in his late fifties yelled in a local betting shop.

"It's March 14th Richard, mate. Ain' it yer li'al girl's birthday coming' up?" The man of similar aged asked next to him. The man Richard, looked worse for wear. His beard was grey and unkempt as though it hadn't been shaved for weeks. His eyes were a dull blue and the if the bags under his eyes had anything to say, he hadn't been sleeping well for a very long time. His jeans were tired and well worn in, the holes visible were not for the latest fashion trend.

"Oh bollocks! Bollocks, Roy! What am I going to do?! I can't afford her anything!" Richard cried a panic.

"Well I'd lend ya sum money mate but I got nuffin'" Roy shrugged, not as concerned as the man panicking next to him.

"Well I need to find something! I've forgotten the last couple, I think my mother would throttle me if I forget another." Roy took a swig of some liquid that was not visible in the brown paper bag in his hand, although the smell would've easily been placed as whisky.

"How old's she gonna be?" There was a pause as Richard's face whitened.

"I don't even know. She must be in her twenties." Roy offered his drink to Richard, who within a heartbeat took a large gulp. The fiery liquid burning the back of his throat.

"Well 'ave a look and see wha' you can pick up then. There's plenty of people headin' ta work now since it's-" Roy paused and checked his watch. "Seven o'clock in der morning. We managed to pull anuffa all-nighter." Richard took another swig and gave the bottle back to Roy.

"You're not suggesting I nick something off someone." Roy gave him a look before going back to the screen to watch the races. He glanced back to see Richard waiting for a response and rolled his eyes.

"I ain't suggestin' anyfink, but how do ya think I got mah watch?" He rolled up his sleeve to show off his Rolex. "I ain't one ta boast buh it's 'ere for a rainy day." Richard stared down at his watch in thought. He didn't have any money, most shops had even blacklisted him for even entering the premises now. What else could he do?

xXx

A quick stop in a cheap hotel in croydon had done Jack some wonders. After staying up half the night grieving for the loss of Michael, Jack had stayed overnight further out of the city of London to seek solace and tamper with the new vortex manipulator. Using the Doctor's hand which he had found whilst on his travels to catch up with the doctor, he managed to configure the device to track him. As soon as he gave it a day or so longer to recharge, he'd be out here quicker than you could say 'Dalek'.

It was Friday morning and the morning rush of commuters were on their way to start their last busy day of the week. Many headed towards East Croydon station to access the direct line to London Victoria. Unfortunately, that had been the direction Jack was heading and he had been forced to leave his hotel the early morning. He had been refused a late check out as he had arrived at the hotel in the early hours of the morning and he was lucky enough to charm his way into a room that had been booked for an early check in the next day.

With a hefty sigh, Jack pushed his way through the crowds. He ducked and dived away from the business men in suits that didn't care for whomever walked in their path. He managed to avoid the young mothers battling their way with their prams to take their eldest children to school.

With a frustrated huff, Jack felt the device in his pocket beep. It had been Michael's. With a triumphant yell, Jack had pulled it out of his pocket and lifted the flap only to notice that the device had signaled it was 50 percent full.

With a frustrated huff, Jack placed it back into his coat pocket. If he could only just ignore the weight in his pocket then time would feel like it was faster and he'd be out of this time zone. He had to figure out the truth about what had happened back on the space station.

As he got lost in his thoughts, he felt a man barge into his shoulder with such a force that caused Jack to almost fall back.

"Hey! Excuse _me_!" Jack cried out in irritation. "People these days." He tutted before shouting into the crowd. "You wouldn't do that in 1809!" He watched the man disappear into the crowd and Jack walked over to the ticket machine. It was time for his long journey back to Cardiff. Unless he could make the device work, he was stuck in Wales until the Doctor needed to make a pitstop in the capital to refuel his Tardis.

He patted his pockets, trying to feel his wallet to find that the device in his pocket was no longer there. Jack felt panic rise as he hastily shoved his hands inside to pull out his wallet and keys. He cursed loudly.

"Oh for crying out loud!" He shouted in exasperation as he turned around and ran back in the crowd in an attempt to locate the pickpocket.

xXx

_Sunday 16th March 2008_

A high pitched alarm rang in the bedroom of a newly turned twenty two year old, Willow Smith. Her strawberry blonde hair spread like feathers on her pillow as she yawned and turned to her side, slowly waking up to the loud bellowing sound.

"For goodness sake Willow, wake up!" A voiced yelled from downstairs. Cursing her grandmother's good set of lungs, Willow opened her eyes and sat up. She gave an almighty yawn and stretch before leaning over and turning the noise off.

She heard clanking from downstairs and presumed her grandmother Peggy was making herself some breakfast. It would most likely be her usual weetabix and hot milk, due to her diabetes she justified eating a sugar free breakfast in the mornings so that she could eat more rubbish later in the evening and up her insulin. It made no sense to Willow but whatever would make her eighty six year old mother happy would be enough for her.

Willow stood up and tidied her bed. She wasn't meticulous about many things but she always liked to come home to a tidy bed in the evenings. It was something her grandmother had taught her from a very young age and she had stuck to it.

After a quick shower, Willow threw on her pair of low rise jeans with her snow patrol concert shirt. After changing, she brushed her hair in front of the mirror. Willow had never liked long hair up until recently, before she would always have a pixie cut but as the years passed she had grown to love the hair her mother had given her. The length was down to her shoulder-blades and she had rarely ever tied it up unless the situation called for it. Once she had made herself look presentable she headed downstairs to find her grandmother Penny already sitting at the breakfast table.

"Good morning Sweetheart." She heard her grandmother day from behind her newspaper.

"Mornin' Nan" Willow replied with a muffled yawn. Her grandmother beckoned her over and she complied.

"Happy twenty-second birthday, Dear." Willow leaned down so that her grandmother could give her a quick peck on the cheek.

"Thanks." Willow smiled and sat across from her, grabbing a piece of toast on a plate sitting in front of her. It had become their morning routine. Her grandmother would wake up first and make both their breakfasts and have hers there ready for when she finished getting ready. It was one of Willow's favourite moments of the day. She loved having some private one to one time with her grandmother. She's often here stories about her childhood or silly little stories of how her and her late granddad fought between themselves over silly little things.

Taking a bite out of the piece of toast. Willow's grandmother closed The Sun newspaper and placed it to her side. She took off her glasses and placed them on too to give Willow her full attention.

"Have you got anything planned later with your friends?" Willow hastily swallowed the mouthful of toast.

"I'm going to be staying in tonight. I'll be going out with Daniel on friday night. He wants me to try 'living a little'." Willow added with quotations. Her grandmother smiled kindly.

"Probably best dear, you have work tomorrow morning too. Best not too be too hasty to go out." Willow finished her toast and licked the crumbs off of her fingers before she replied.

"I know, I know. I need to find a new job soon though, this one is killing me." Her grandmother sighed.

"You've only had this job for a month. Give it some time. Back in my day you could pack your job in on the same day and find a new job starting tomorrow but there are way too many people in the country now. It's impossible." Willow reached out the mug of tea that sat on the table waiting for her. She cradled it for warmth as she sighed.

"I know, I know, but I've gone from a job I loved which was teaching to working as a youth worker. Not that there's anything wrong with that but it's just not _me_." She was given a look from her grandmother that showed she not amused.

"Go back to being a teacher then."

"I can't. I never finished my degree here, you didn't need one abroad. Just a working holiday visa." Her grandmother finished the last of her own tea that had been left forgotten. She tapped her mug in thought.

"Well, I for one think you should go back to university. You're young and you've got your whole life ahead of you. What would your mother say?" Willow placed her mug back on the table with slight force.

"It doesn't matter because she's dead." The conversation ended, leaving Willow with a bitter taste in her mouth. It had been three ones this coming July since the London bus bombings that had hit central London. Others may have been able to start getting over their grieving but Willow had still counted how many days had passed. Nine hundred and eighty four days including today. Her grandmother seemed to have sensed her thoughts.

"There was nothing you could've done, dear. I'm just happy to still have you." Willow sighed and played with her hands on the table, prepared to do anything but look at her grandmother in the eyes.

"You don't understand. Nobody does. _I_ was supposed to be on that bus too! If I had, she wouldn't have been alone when it happened." She could feel her voice break, flashes of the London bombings flashed back as vividly as though it had only just happened. Quickly, she stood and poured herself another tea whilst the kettle was still warm, trying to push the memories in the back of her mind. Her grandmother's eyes never left her, scrutinizing every moment she made.

"Living abroad all those years never helped you, did it?" Willow signed and sat back down with her fresh cup of tea.

"No it didn't. I thought it would. _It did_ for a while, trying to learn the language kept my mind preoccupied to some extent, but then.." She paused. Her grandmother cut in.

"Has he tried contacting you?" She shook her head.

"No thank goodness. He's too preoccupied with his new lover Mei Lien." Her grandmother reached over and placed her hand over Willow's.

"Well he doesn't know what he's missed out on." Willow sighed and drank more of her tea, enjoying the burning sensation as the boiled liquid scorched down her throat.

There was a moment of silence between them, her grandmother had gone back to her newspaper and Willow had succumbed to opening her birthday cards delivered in the post. She was pleasantly surprised to see one from her friend Melissa whom she had met in China. She had been a lot older than Willow, perhaps twenty years. However, Melissa had kept her under her wing and had kept her sane over the couple of years she had lived there. She had also received a card from Samantha from secondary school as well as a few distant family members. It wasn't that many cards but over the years Willow had seemed to realize there had been no point to many things in life. Giving out pieces of card to people as a greeting was one of them. Whilst many of her old friends were finishing University and still enjoying the days out partying until the early hours in the morning, Willow had preferred the quieter nights in cozied up with a good book and hot beverage.

Thuds echoed the kitchen as feet hit the staircase. Willow's grandmother had lowered her newspaper and gave Willow a look. She knew that look very well. She was being told to play nice.

"Happy birthday darlin'" Willow's dad, Richard had arrived in the room. He ruffled her hair as he walked past and turned on the kettle. It was the first time Willow had not needed to remind him the date since her mother had passed, the shock had been apparent on her face.

"Thanks dad. I'm surprised you remembered." Willow thanked him earnestly.

"Well, I'm trying to turn a new leaf. I know I've not been the greatest of fathers recently but I'm trying to give it a shot."

"Does that mean you're going to get a job again and stop using nan's savings and pension at the betting shop?" A newspaper from across the table whacked her on top of the head with some force. After wincing, she opened her eyes to see her grandmothers scowl. She hadn't taken the warning.

Her father seemed to ignore her comment as he poured himself a brew. Clearly he wouldn't stop relying on his mother for his gambling addiction and Willow bit back another retort. Since the death of her mother, Richard had been hit the hardest. There was only so much lenience his job was willing to give him. Leave for grievance, psychological help and cut hours with full pay didn't seem to have any effect. They had ignored his drop of performance as well but as soon as Richard had allowed his patients to die under his care as an anesthetist whilst being drunk on the job, they had to let him go. Since then Richard had declined further, once a respectable man turned to losing his mortgage; moving back in with his mother and using his winnings from the betting shop or stolen money from his mothers purse to satisfy his addiction to alcohol and tobacco.

"I got you a present, Will." Richard had said with hesitation in his voice. He took out a roughly wrapped gift from his dressing gown pocket. Hastily, he tried pressing on the crumpled wrapping paper to tidy it and make it look a little more presentable rather than have the appearance of a scrunched up paper ball.

"Thanks dad..." Willow blinked and dumbly outstretched her hands when he walked across. He dropped it in her hands and sat down next to her. His eyes held a hopeful glint as he watched her hesitantly open her birthday present.

She pulled the crumpled wrapping paper apart which didn't give her any particularly trouble as it almost fell apart without her help. Inside was a thick leather strap for what she could only presume was for her wrist. Willow noticed in the corner of her eye that her grandmother had turned her nose up at it and went back to her newspaper, not wanting to get involved with their moment together.

She picked it up and stared down at the object, unable to find any words. She had no idea what it was. Was it a _bracelet_ of some kind? A type of leather cosplay gauntlet? Richard didn't seem to notice her lack of enthusiasm as he was already ecstatic that she had even accepted the gift.

"Do you like it?" He asked hopefully before she even had a chance to fully inspect what it was.

"What is it?" She asked, inspecting every inch of the thick leather strap.

"It's a wristband, before I got it I saw an American man using one. It has a sleeve which you flap up and you can use it as a watch. It seems as though it's used internationally so it must be worth a lot." Again, it seemed as though her father was looking at the profit. Willow was very much aware that her father had sold almost all of his possessions already, even her mother's jewelry which Willow should've inherited directly after her passing. Willow felt a burning sensation at the back of her throat as her eyes started to water. One had been her mother's wedding ring. Willow had nothing to show that her mother had even existed thanks to Richard. No, her father wasn't trying to turn a new leaf.

Willow was able to bite back the emotions so that she was able to mutter a quiet, "thanks, dad.". This seemed to appease him as his eyes lit up and he reached over. He gave her a peck on the cheek, unaware that he caused Willow to feel the long corse hair from his beard to scratch her chin and give her discomfort from the contact.

"You're welcome sweetheart." He cried gleefully as he stood from his seat, his half drunk tea left forgotten. "Right, it's time for me to get ready. I've got to head out."

"Where are you going?" Willow asked blankly. Her father paused.

"I've got to meet a friend. He's got a job coming up which I said I'd get involved in." Willow sighed. It was the same thing he said every morning before he went to the bookies.

"I'll see you later." Willow responded with a defeated tone.

"Oh mum, I need to borrow twenty quid." It was her grandmothers turn to sigh defeatedly.

"It's in my purse Dickie." Richard gave his mum a swift kiss on the cheek and left the room.

"He's never going to change, is he?" Willow murmured. Her grandmother gave her a saddened look.

"Not unless something serious happened. Don't do anything stupid,Darling. Losing you would kill me off." Willow took her older, more fragile hands in hers. The newspaper left forgotten.

"I promise I won't leave again. I'll stay for good this time." Her grandmother smiled sadly, not believing her granddaughter but accepting her earnest response all the same.

xXx

Once Willow had finished her breakfast. She headed upstairs to grab her handbag. She had left her phone on charge whilst she had been downstairs eating breakfast. Whilst she loved her Sony Ericsson, it was starting to look a little bit dated since she had come back to London. Back in China she didn't particularly care for the new models and keeping up with the latest trend; however now she was back in England and able to have a British SIM card for a new phone and not have to worry about the government blocks in place that China had been notorious for. Willow was keep about getting the IPhone. It looked revolutionary! She wouldn't be surprised if Apple would surprise the market based on the reviews she was reading. She's decided that she'd save up and buy herself a new phone. Perhaps that could be her late birthday treat a few months down the line.

She sat down and rummaged through the top drawer of her bedside table for her wristwatch. It was the watch her mother had bought for her on her eighteen birthday and one of the last gifts her mother had ever bought her. With a frustrated huff and ten minutes of rummaging in all three drawers and pulling the table forwards to see if the watch had falling down the back - she gave up.

"I guess I'll have to give it a try wearing this considering he _did_ just buy this for me." She muttered defeatedly under her breath as she picked up the discarded gift on her bed. It wasn't that she hated her gift, it was just a gift she felt no sentiment towards.

She strapped the device around her left wrist and lifted up the flap. Inside was a rectangular screen with five buttons underneath. It seemed rather basic and simplistic which meant to Willow that it must be easy to navigate. "Still, I wonder why it didn't come with instructions. How stupid is that?" She ran her hands down the blank screen which seemed to pulsate slightly under her touch. She flinched and pulled her hand back.

"What was that?!" Her eyes stayed transfixed on the device. With hesitation, she touched the screen again for it to have no effect.

"Maybe I was just imagining it." She sighed with relief. "Now, let's see here..." With newfound courage, Willow pressed one of the buttons and the screen shone blue. Waiting to find out nothing else was happening, Willow pressed the third button in the middle.

The blue light on the device flashed and Willow felt the device vibrate on her wrist. It seemed as though pressing the middle button had started it up and Willow screamed. She tried to pull the device off of her wrist but it wouldn't budge.

There was a tug coming from the band. It felt as though it was trying to pull her body closer to it and the force felt like it was about to rip her arm off. With another scream of fear, she felt her body relent and she closed her eyes. She felt as though her body was being pulled through a bath drain as she felt her body convulse involuntarily. With a final yank and scream, Willow felt her feet land and she quickly had to steady herself. She opened her eyes and gasped at the sight.

In front of her was a rust colored city surrounded by barren land with brown lakes scattered in the distance. The burnt orange sky was a huge contrast to the scattered grey clouds that seemed to tone down the city that looked as though it was set on fire.

Willow was definitely no longer on Earth.


	3. Chapter 2

Willow’s heart thundered in her chest as she took a few hesitant steps in front of her, she stumbled slightly but quickly regained her balance. One moment she was at home and now she was in some new world. _Surely_ it must be a dream. She pinched herself in the flesh between her fingers _hard._

“Ouch!” She flinched. She was definitely awake. Willow looked over at the wristband on her left arm. It had turned itself off automatically and she didn’t dare press anymore buttons in fear that she’d be sent somewhere else. She couldn’t believe that she had a moment ago been in her bedroom at home getting ready to go out and was now thrusted someone where completely alien to her. Funnily enough she didn’t want to risk pressing anymore buttons on that wristwatch and being sent off to another random place yet again. Once was enough.

Willow saw the city ahead of her and decided that the best place to try to find any answers to where she was lay there. It didn’t look anything that she’d ever seen before. The city was huge,with two long and curved pillars curving over the city and making a dome-like effect. The buildings were taller than any she had seen before and gave the Shanghai Tower a run for it’s money. The rusted color of the land reminded her of the Uluru in Australia, if she had been here willingly she would have jumped at the chance of using a camera to take pictures of the sights but coming from London moments before and knowing that this was definitely not something you’d see out of her bedroom window caused her heart to race quicker and her panic to set in as she rushed towards what she hoped to be civilization.

xXx

After what seemed to be an hour of trudging along in the sand, Willow had arrived at the border of the City. There were no security, and the people here looked just the same as humans. Had she just gone to a very technologically advanced Egypt?

Willow walked along the streets and the further she walked into the city, the more people she met and funnily enough, they still all remained looking human and it made her question whether she _was_ still on Earth. Nobody approached Willow and none of them even glanced in her direction, which had suited her fine as she observed everything around her. There was only one thing that had differentiated these people to her from an outsiders view and that was their writing. Or what looked to be their writing. The circles were large with other circles interlocking inside it. It must’ve been their writing because it was found almost on every street she walked down, she could see it everywhere, it was on noticeboards that hung on the walls of buildings and even on what she thought to have been menus for restaurants. There was no language that Willow knew of that wrote in circular form, it was definitely not from a country that Willow was aware of.

It wasn’t long before Willow found herself at what looked to be a park of some sorts. It was an empty small field that was covered in sand, however in a few spots you could see long blades of red grass, scattered around.She had never imagined seeing red grass before, had it been stained with sand rock or was it a new type of grass she hadn’t heard of before? It was definitely a sight to see for her and it had peaked her interest. She’d google red grass once she got home if she found out that this wasn’t a dream.

In the park; she could see two young boys no older than eight years old playing amongst themselves.The taller boy looked six inches taller than the other. He had dark brown hair in a bob style with a full fringe and light blue eyes. He wore a dark turtleneck shirt and black trousers and was running in circles around the smaller boy. They looked to be the same age, however by their body language, it looked to be that the taller boy had more confidence, whilst the smaller lacked slightly. The reason being, the smaller boy didn’t seem to know what to do with himself as he watched his friend run around him in circles and just laughed more quietly to himself. The smaller boy had shaggy blonde hair that reached his chin, with almond colored eyes. They both wore the exact same outfit which either meant they were in the same school/club or it was the fashion of this particular place. Hazel noticed that there were no one else in sight, no one had been supervising these boys nor did there seem to be a reason to.

Willow took a step towards the boys and they paid her no mind. She coughed but again, she didn’t catch their attention. Giving up on trying the subtleties of attention and be more forthcoming, she waved.

“Excuse me?” She called. This caught their attention and the both of them paused midway through their game to look over at her curiously.

“Where am I?” Willow asked the boys.

“Gallifrey.” The dark haired boy answered wearily whilst giving her an odd look. Perhaps her dress sense seemed to catch their attention too because she hadn’t particularly seen many people outside of robes in the streets. His answer made her hyperventilate.

“What?! What’s Gallifrey?” She felt her pulse quicken slightly. This had confirmed she was no longer on Earth for sure. How else could she explain where she was? She had never heard of this place before. It was definitely not a British name, that was for sure.

“Here.” The boy answered, giving her a funny look.

“Where’s here?” She asked again. The boy didn’t seem to understand what she was getting at. Was it a colony in Mars?

“Gallifrey.” The boy answered as though it were the most obvious answer in the world. Typical for a boy his age. Willow had to bite back a yell in frustration as she tried to find another way to word her question so that he understood.

“But sweetheart, where is Gallifrey?” The boy blinked at her, clearly not registering what it was exactly that she needed to hear, but the quiet boy by his side that hadn’t spoke a single word to her throughout the conversation had decided to speak up.

“In Kasterborous.” Willow wanted to thank her lucky stars that she had a different answer to what the vocal boy had been giving her. She smiled at the quiet boy gratefully and decided that he was probably her best shot to understand what was going on.

“Where’s that?” The quiet boy looked hesitant for a moment but as he was about to speak, his friend spoke on his behalf.

“It’s a constellation, not a place. Where are you from?” Willow could only presume that the boy wanted to keep Willow’s attention off of his friend.

“London. It’s on Earth.”This seemed to catch both the boys attention.The vocal boy glanced at his friend excitedly as though they had just hit the jackpot.

“We’ve heard about Earth. It’s the place where monkeys grew up to look like us, right?” The silent boy next to him nodded. He seemed shocked about the news, however not enough to voice his opinion, mind.

“In a manner of speaking.” Willow answered, feeling mighty offended. It was true that her kind had evolved but the way that the boy had said it was as though she had barely looked any different. “You’re both human too though, right? You just both live on a different planet.” The vocal boy laughed at her.

“No, we’re gallifreyan.” He answered as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. Willow sighed.

“I feel like this is going no where.” She could feel a headache coming on. “What are your names?” She asked, trying to change the conversation. It seemed to work however because the vocal boy had shrugged.

“I’m Koschei.” He answered. “This is Theta.” Koschei indicated to the silent boy next to him. Theta bowed his head slightly in greeting. Willow smiled at them both warmly. They had very different names the the ones back on Earth however they were strangely nice to hear. It was quite refreshing hearing new names. It got rather boring when you’d meet another James or Emma and you had three of them in your social group.

“Nice to meet you both, I’m Willow.” She introduced herself to them both. Theta cocked his head to the side slightly as though he were trying to connect her name to her face to see if it suit. Koschei sniggered, clearly finding her name oddly amusing.

“That’s a funny name.” He announced.

“It’s better than my middle name.”

“Whats that?” Koschei asked curiously. Willow pulled a face.

“Susan.” She replied in a monotone. This had seemed to amuse the boy because he had burst into fits of laughter.

“Haha, that one is funny too.” Willow felt her face go pink. There was something about having an eight year old genuinely laugh at your name that made it all the more embarrassing. However what she hadn’t expected was for the quiet and boy beside Koschei to speak up.

“I like it.” At this Koschei had stopped laughing and looked at his friend in confusion. It seemed as though he hadn’t expected Theta to speak up either.

“Thank you Theta.” Willow said kindly, “I like your name too.” Theta smiled warmly back and Koschei was left standing between them, witnessing the silent bond that they had just developed from a handful of words between them. The idea of that had slightly irritated him. Deciding that he wanted to snatch her attention back, he coughed. Willow broke the eye contact she had with Theta and looked over.

“This evening is an important day for us.” Koschei announced louder than usual. He puffed his chest slightly in pride.

“Why’s that?” Willow asked, tilting her head slightly to the side, curiosity getting the better of her.

“We’re going to see if we can be chosen for the Academy to become Time Lords.” Koschei answered.

“The academy?” Willow could only imagine it must have been an exclusive primary school of some sort. “What do you have to do for that?” Koschei shrugged casually.

“I don’t know.” He was silent for a brief moment before his eyes widened as an idea came to him. He looked excited. “You should come watch!” Willow frowned.

“Am I allowed to do that?” The last thing she wanted to do was cause a scene, especially if she was the only “human” here. Who knows what they would do to her if they found out, perhaps probe her like those science fiction movies liked to portray in the films. Funnily enough, she didn’t fancy the idea of that.

“Just hide in the background. We want you to come, right Theta?” He looked over to his friend, who nodded in agreement. It seemed as though he went back to being shy.

xXx

After spending the afternoon with them, Willow was directed to where they would have their academy initiation. Apparently it was an opening ceremony for all young children that plan to enter the academy to be a “Time Lord” as they called it. From what Willow could gather, Time Lords created time travel and were responsible for upholding the true timelines that were meant to unfold and make sure that there were no outside influences. It all seemed rather complicated and giving children this kind of responsibility seemed absolutely crazy.

The boys made sure to hide her well in the shrubbery. They had arrived in a small field not too far away from where they already were in the park. Apparently this field was one of the training grounds used by the students in the academy.

It wasn’t long before four men arrived at the scene. They looked significantly older and if Willow hazard a guess she’d presume they were in their fifties. They wore red robes that hovered an inch from the floor and a golden armored collar that shielded their shoulders and curved upwards to give them all high collars. They must’ve been of high importance by the way they held themselves as the leading man approached both boys.

Willow watched as Koschei and Theta stood in sync with each other and bowed at times that were necessary. Willow was too far to hear their conversation but from her understanding how events like these typically work, she guessed that he was going through the rules and guidelines for entering the academy. It wasn’t long before the men were satisfied and one of the men from behind dig into his pocket and pull out a silver spherical ball. He threw it on the ground and the sound of a bomb echoed in the empty space. There was a small explosion and a swirling mass of air appeared, it was a rich purple color and whatever it was sent shivers down Willow’s spine. Something wasn’t right about it but she couldn’t place what it was.

First was the overconfident Koschei and if Willow had to choose between either of the boys, she’d say that Koschei was the one that she wouldn’t be surprised being accepted. Koschei was the type that just oozed confidence at anything he did. He took a few steps forward and was given his parchment. He was ordered to read the passage in front of him. Willow could barely catch what was saying but it was an oath to the academy, it was to announce that he would be nonintrusive with timelines and not to play the role as a God and take advantage of his position as a Time Lord.

Once the men were satisfied and Koschei had finished his part; he was beckoned in front of the swirling mass of air and advised to stare inside. Koschei glanced over at Willow’s direction and when their eyes connected, he puffed his chest slightly in pride as he turned back and stared into the vortex. Almost simultaneously his face melted into a blank stare and his body had lost all function besides muttering something under his breath incoherently.

Theta looked absolutely petrified at his friend in this state. He was beckoned over and given the same parchment and was told to read his oath towards the academy. It was clear to see that he wanted to do anything but that. Slowly but surely, Theta read the exact same passage and was told to take a few steps forward.

The vortex swirled in front of both of them and Willow felt her heartbeat quicken. Was this safe? She wasn’t too sure. What if the vortex swallowed them both up?! She noticed Theta had taken a few steps back in fear, not wanting to be put under the same trance as his friend.

Whatever kind of academy it was, it had no right in spark fear in young children. Willow ran closer to the group and into a few shrubs growing together, intermixing.

“Come on boy! You need to look into it if you want to enter the academy.” The man demanded. Theta hesitated and looked around to see if anyone would interject. He was scared. He didn’t want to look into the vortex. He murmured something in Koschei’s direction but he didn’t answer.

“Theta! I’m right behind you, if you want to run.” Willow whispered in a hushed voice. Theta jumped and looked around wildly until he noticed her in the corner of his eye. He paused but kept his gaze on her.

“If you don’t want to do it, I won’t blame you.” It was as though they were the words he needed to hear to make his mind up. Theta dropped the parchment he held for his initiation and ran. Willow stood quickly and wrapped her arms around him hastily.

“Theta, let’s get out of here quick!” She glanced over to Koschei whom was still holding his own whilst staring into the vortex. His eyes never waved even through the events that were unfolding around him. He was in a dangerous trance. She could see that his mouth was muttering something faint and his finger was tapping his parchment in a steady beat. _Tap tap tap tap....tap tap tap tap..._

“Koschei! Let’s go!” Willow screamed, however Koschei never stirred.

“What are you doing?!” The man that was in charge of the academy initiation bellowed, causing Theta to flinch by her side. “Who are you?!”

“We have to go...” Theta whimpered, his eyes trained onto the man in front of him.

“Koschei!” Willow repeated. Realizing she had to make a move swiftly and there was no way she’d be able to take them both - her heart sunk.

“Theta, okay we have to leave now. Quick!” She grabbed the distracted boy’s arm and pulled him in the opposite direction to the group of men that had started to give chase.

“Where are we going?” Theta asked breathlessly. He was practically dragged by Willow. His smaller legs barely being able to make the long strides in her running.

“I don’t know, we need to get out of the city though!” Willow replied. She was barely in shape and having to run this fast and abruptly was already causing her body to scream at her to stop.

They twisted and turned many streets to throw them off of them as they started to make some distance between them and Willow could no longer hear the footsteps. She thanked her lucky stars that her grandmother had made her watch those James Bond movies, even if it was because her grandmother had a love for Sean Connery.Her grandmother said she watched “Diamonds are forever” for the story but Willow knew the truth, and so did her father.

Both Willow and Theta kept on running even after they managed to get out of the city. They could barely see anything in the darkness but Willow kept Theta’s hand clasped in hers. The further they walked, the harder it was to see. The light pollution from the city was gaining more distance it was becoming more difficult to see ahead of them.It wasn’t long before they managed to spot the darkened shadow of a house and they both ran towards it. They needed to get out of the open regardless on whether or not they should be seen. For all Willow knew, they could have technology to see in the dark, and it wouldn’t have surprised her.She tugged Theta’s hand and they ran faster towards the house. The door was unlocked and Willow pulled it open effortlessly.

“Quick! In here!” She cried. Theta complied and ran in. She soon followed and slammed the door shut behind her. “I think... they’ve given up....searching... for us.” Willow said in between huffs. Desperately trying to claw more breath into her lungs. Theta stood and looked around the old, damaged wooden hut.

“Where is this place?” He asked. Willow took a moment to regain her breath and to stop her heart racing as fast as it was. She took a few steps further into the hut and looked around. She kicked a mix between hay and leaves from under her shoe to see a stoned floor underneath. The walls surrounding them were wooden and rotting away with age. The place could barely stay

“Looks like it’s an old hut. Maybe someone lived here years ago.” Willow suggested as she moved forward and looked through the gaps from the wood to see outside.e. There were no lights, only darkness. She couldn’t see the men in the distance which had given her a huge sense of relief. It looked as though they had definitely given them the slip.

“Is this your home?” She heard the boy ask.

“I already told you Theta, I’m not from here. I’m from a place called London. It’s on Earth.” He blinked at her and for a brief moment confusion flooded the features on his face before he remembered their conversation with Koschei.

“How did you get here? Humans can’t travel here by themselves.” Willow pondered this. They were in the 21st century, so perhaps they _were_ able to time travel now and just kept it secret to the general public. Perhaps her wristband belonged to an agent. Hah, what a name that’d be, a _Space agent._

“I guess we can. I don’t know how though.” Shows him her wristband. “I used this.” Theta scrutinized the wristband and his eyes shone with understanding.

“You don’t know what this is?” Willow shook her head. She hadn’t noticed the boy look at her curiously whilst she pulled her arm back and looked around the hut again. They couldn’t stay here and both of them knew that. Any moment now the men giving chase could spot this hut and knowingly suspect that they were hiding out in here.

Willow then noticed in the corner of the hut that there was a large cloth covering an object. Feeling hope that it could be method of transport out of the area - anything to help them get out of the sand, she ran over.

“What’s over there?” Willow heard Theta’s footsteps walk over to her. Willow turned and smiled at him a foot away from her.

“I don’t know but let’s find out!” She answered enthusiastically as she pulled the cloth away. What she hadn’t expected was for Theta’s face went to pale at the sight that came upon them. Willow tilted her head as she observed the robot in front of her. Well, it looked like a Solero shots packaging but life sized and gold and covered with spheres that the size of two fists together. Willow noticed aa huge scuff in the front of its body as though it had been in a fight and whatever it was against had do a lot of harm to it. It didn’t look much of a threat.

“What is it?” She asked the frightened boy. Theta tore his eyes away from the robot and looked as though she had grew two heads.

“It’s a Dalek!” He cried out as though that explained everything. It left Willow more confused. She couldn’t understand why the boy was so frightened at this machine.

“What’s a Dalek?” She asked him curiously.

“It’s a killing machine! I’ve heard about them but I’ve never seen one before.” Willow’s face paled slightly as she looked back at the Dalek with newfound fear. Normally if a child had been frightened, she would have reasoned that it could be easily sorted by an adult but everything was different now that she was on a world that was not her own and Theta’s fear looked unadulterated.

“Maybe this one won’t. We shouldn’t just presume things like that. Maybe... maybe this one is good.” Willow took a step forward but Theta pulled her back to him with all the strength an eight year old could muster.

“Don’t help it! We have to get out of here before it wakes up!” Theta screeched. Tears had started to flood his eyes. The blue light on the head of it’s rod lit up and rose to direct it’s attention to the both of them.

“ _Doc...tor.”_ A deep throated, robotic voice cried. Both Willow and Theta paused. It was as though all of Theta’s nightmares all came to life in that moment.

“ _Doc...tor.”_ The Dalek repeated. Willow hesitated and took a step forward.

“Stay back!” Theta screamed. He used all his strength to pull Willow back again. Willow’s eyes never drifted from the Dalek. It sounded like the Dalek was in pain and the last thing she wanted was to have a guilty conscious for not at least trying to help it.

“There isn’t a Doctor here but let us help you...” Willow offered. The Dalek’s rod moved slightly to fully aim at the woman. She suddenly felt as though her suggestion was probably not a good idea.

“You can’t help it!” Theta screeched, his voice laced with fear. He clutched onto her shirt in fear, and Willow could feel his small figure shake behind her. “It’s going to kill us, Willow!” Owning nothing on her person but determined to try and save the boy behind her, Willow pulled off one of her shoes. She held it in front of her as though it were a weapon, the heel of her shoe was directed at the Dalek.

_“Doctor...”_ The Dalek repeated again. It seemed as though it the word it said gave itself the will to wake up. It was processing the word the smaller rod that would be situated at what would be the Dalek’s chest took aim at the pair. “ _Will...”_ Theta buried his face into her side, cowering as he let out a whimper.

“ _Exterminate!_ ” The Dalek cried out.

Not hesitating, and purely on instinct, Willow threw her shoe at the Dalek. The impact managed the jolt the rod and the laser that had shot out hit the side of the hut rather than them. It she had left it a second longer, without a doubt that laser would’ve been the end of both of them. The shoe swung on the rod by its heel, slowly stopping and remaining perfectly balanced. This seemed to startle the Dalek for a brief moment and Willow used this opportunity to lean down to grab her second shoe but before the Dalek could react, it was surrounded by a bright piercing light. Before either of them could comprehend what was happening, the Dalek had vanished leaving nothing in its wake.

“What happened?!” Theta asked incredulously. His eyes were wide as his young brain tried to process the events that had just happened.

“I don’t know... I threw my shoe at it and it disappeared.” Willow answered blankly. She was just as startled at him. She looked around for any evidence that it had been there and realized that there were none besides the sensation of cold stone underneath her foot through her sock.“My shoe is gone”. Theta took a few steps forward and hovered his hand around the area, he waved it around, processing in his brain that the Dalek had most certainly left.

“You killed it?” He asked her. Willow frowned. There was no way a robot could die and disappear from having a shoe thrown at it.

“I don’t think I did.” She answered honestly. “I didn’t do anything special, you saw me.” Though Theta had completely disregarded what she had said and looked at her with newfound awe. It was a sight she wouldn’t have expected from him. It was as though she announced that shewas Batman to the boy.

“Wow, I’ve never met anyone that beat a Dalek without killing it.” His eyes shone in admiration towards her and she felt increasingly embarrassed and uncomfortable. She hadn’t _done_ anything and felt as though the respect he was giving her was slightly misplaced. Though she felt she had to say something to be boy whom had started to put her on such a high pedestal.

“Never be cruel. You should always try and find a way to resolve things without hurting the other and if there’s something that’s inevitable, you should just run.Run until you can find a way to solve it. That’s the way I’ve solved things in my life.” Theta took in every word she said, _every syllable._ She had saved his life and for that reason alone she became someone incredibly important to him.

The both sat in the hurt for what felt like hours, though judging by the clock on Willow’s phone, it had only been an hour that had passed. Theta had spent the time talking to her about life on Gallifrey and the worlds that he had heard of from his father and would love to explore one day. He had also asked her about Earth, and when she told him about the differences living in London to China, Theta looked amazed. He seemed to prefer talking about London but that could have been perhaps though that Willow was more adverse in that area being that it was her childhood home.

Just as Willow was about to talk to Theta about the time she and Samantha managed to sneak away from London on a school day to go to Brighton for the day - they heard faint voices.They had finally found the hut.

“You have to go! You’re human so I don’t know what they would do to you.” Theta whispered in a panic as he rushed over to her whilst trying to keep as silent as possible. His hands tugged at her arm where the device was.

“I don’t know how to go!” Theta looked at her incredulously and then lifted up the flap so that he could see inside. He looked bemused.

“Can’t you read it?!” Willow furrowed her brows.

“Read what?!” Theta groaned in frustration.

“The buttons help you set the time, date and location! Go home!”

“It’s not in English!”

The Gallifreyan men’s footsteps could be heard along with their yelling of surrendering Theta. They were accusing her of kidnap.

“Go!” Theta yelled, he left go of her wrist and ran to the door. “I’m going to leave but as soon as I open the door they’re going to come and catch you!”

“Come with me Theta! I’ll keep your safe from them!” Theta shook his head.

“I can’t leave yet. I’ve got so much I need to do.” He smiled at her. “But I want to see you again soon, Susan.”

“My name isn’t Susan, it’s Willow.” He smiled at her in response and opened the door.

In a flash, the Gallifreyan men ran into the hut to catch a glimpse of Willow hurriedly smashing a button and find herself feel the familiar tug that she had felt earlier before whilst getting thrown into the vortex.

xXx

Willow’s eyes were clasped shut once she’d arrived at her next destination however it didn’t take long for her to realize that she hadn’t arrived back in her bedroom back on Earth.

“What the-“She opened her eyes and looked at the scene that befell her, and it caused Willow to develop a huge pit in her stomach.

The sky was a blood red. Black smoke coated the air and she smell the scent of fire. There were screams of fear, pain and grief in all directions as the citizens of the city tried to escape from the echos of lasers being shot. She could hear the buildings crumble and fall the ground from the blazes, she thuds of feet running and bodies hitting the ground after being shot. She was in the middle of a war, an invasion. Something had gone wrong but Willow knew in her heart that this had been Theta and Koschei’s home. She was definitely still on Gallifrey.

“Theta?!” She cried. “Theta, where are you?!” She looked around and there was no sight of the boy.

“Koschei?!” However the screams all around her had muted her voice. The city was burning to the ground and every second things escalated worse. She could feel the heat of the fires lick her skin and the sweat that had once been on her body had long evaporated.

In the distance she saw a singular figure, stood stiff as a board and watching everything burn around him. She knew it had been a man, his back was too broad.

Willow felt the hairs stand up on the back of her neck. There was something about that figure being so calm in the eye of the storm that unnerved her- frightened her even. She could hear the echoes of _“exterminate”_ in the background and she was suddenly reminded of the Dalek she had met not too long ago.

It had been the first time Willow had been so frightened since the London bombings. She could barely breathe through all the carbon dioxide in the air, as the fires where sucked away her oxygen.

The saw the man’s head turn, the shadows of the fire licking the side of his face so that she wasn’t able to see him. Willow tentatively took a step back, every fiber of her being warning her that he was too calm to not to be involved with what was happening in Gallifrey. As he took a step towards her, Willow heard herself whimper in fear. How could she find the boys in this situation, when she was too frightened to do it by herself?

“I don’t know what to do? I’ve got to find help!” Willow yelled her thoughts as she slammed her finger on one of the buttons on the vortex manipulator strapped around her wrist before the man had got any closer, she felt the device roar back to life and felt the familiar tug. She crushed her eyes shut and took in a deep breath as she felt herself being thrown into the drain again.

As soon as she felt the ground beneath her feet, Willow sank to her knees on the spot, unable to cease her knees from shaking underneath her. She would never be able to get used to that. The whole concept of traveling with the device was so alien to her and her body that she would never be able to adjust. It was a huge drain mentally and physically to her wellbeing.

She heard clanking feet stop. A wheezing sound echoed in the background and Willow felt as though a bucket of iced water had dropped on her, it was that cold.

“Who are you?” A demanding tone asked. It was a man, and he sounded northern. Willow opened her eyesto find the unknown man in the middle of an usual room. It was definitely alien. The room was a golden yellow and had orbs that looked to have melted into the walls. There was a huge control center in the middle of the room and it was lifted from the ground by metal caged flooring that you had access to by stairs. The man in front of her was by the controls but he had turned his attention to her with a deep frown. He sported a buzz cut hair style, a black leather jacket with dark trousers. What caught Willow’s attention was his abnormally large pair of ears. “And what are you doing in my Tardis?”


	4. Chapter 3

“Who are you?” The man repeated and Willow flinched slightly at his tone. She was definitely nowhere near home when she considered the appearance of the room in front of her. It just looked so... _alien_. Not wanting to give too much away of herself without knowing who she was giving the information to, Willow decided to bite back with a;

“Who are _you?_ ” The man looked affronted as he jumped away from the center of the room with the levers and buttons and ran over to her the other side of the room.

“I’m the owner of this Tardis. Now I believe it’s common decency to answer the questions of someone whose home you broke into!” She felt herself redden slightly at his stern gaze. It’s not as though she could _control_ how she got here, but then again he’d have no idea about that. Battling her subconscious, she gave in and decided to answer his question.

“I’m Willow.” Giving him his answer didn’t seem to satisfy him as he continued giving her a look as he went into his inside pocket. Was he hiding a gun?! Willow felt herself take a few steps back in fear and bit back an almost unconscious scream. The man seemed to notice and rolled his eyes at her.

“I’m not going to hurt you if that’s what you’re thinking.” He pulled whatever it was out of his pocket and Willow observed. It was a long cylinder object that looked as though it were made of cheap metal with a blue light at the end of it. he pointed the device at her and lowered it from her face to her feet. He was doing a body scan.

“Human.” He said to himself as he looked at his screwdriver, it must’ve given him that information somehow. He looked up at her. “But how did you manage to get in here?! We’re no where near Earth.”

“I have a device that lets me travel.” He looked as though he wanted to ask some more questions but Willow cut him up before he had the opportunity. “Right now it doesn’t matter how I can do it! I need some help.” He raised a brow and crossed his arms.

“I don’t help people.” She wanted to pull her hair out in frustration with his aggressive attitude.

“Well then maybe you should start. I have to get back to where I was. There’s a kid back on this other planet. Something has happened to it and now it’s on fire. I need to go back and help him but I need some help.” He kept his eyes trained on her, contemplating on what to say for a brief moment before he said.

“Well, I’m a bit busy at the moment if you hadn’t noticed.”

“Doing what?!” Willow asked incredulously.

“Doing my own thing here.” He announced whilst outstretching his arms to the side to show off his home.

“What? You mean to tell me that just hanging out in this room is more important to you than helping a kid?!” He raised a brow.

“But it’s not just a kid is it? You said the planet was on fire.”

“Well, yes.” She replied rather sheepishly. He gave her a look.

“How do you expect us to save a planet? It’s impossible. Sorry, no can do.” Willow couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She couldn’t believe that someone would be so openly against helping other people. The man in front of her tapped his foot aggressively on the floor. He was irritated. She hoped it was his conscious against him. They say first impressions count and Willow could not agree anymore than she did right now. She took an immense dislike to him.

“I don’t expect to save a planet, but I expect to be able to save _at least_ one life. It’s more than what you care to do. I’ll just leave!” Willow declared. She went to lift up the flap of her wristband but she paused slightly. What if she couldn’t get back to that place and kept jumping around God knows where? How would she be able to help Theta and Koschei?

“How did you even get there?” The man’s unsuspecting voice made her flinch and break out of her train of thought.

“I don’t know. I just... used my watch and it sent me there.” He glanced down at her wristband with distain.

“Great lack of detail.” Willow frowned at his sarcasm. She wasn’t impressed with his attitude. “What planet are you even talking about anyway?” He asked.

“I can’t remember the name.” She could tell he just wanted to groan. It was not her fault she remember what the boys had told her. She remembered that the world began with a ‘G’ but the word was so alien to her, her mind had blocked it out.

“How do you expect me to take you to a place which you have no idea how you got to nor remember it’s name?”

“I don’t know!” Willow yelled. She could feel a lump hit the back of her throat as she tried to swallow saliva that had built up in her mouth. She felt sick with worry and fear for Theta. “I just have to get back to that world. There were so many of those Daleks.” Her voice broke as she covered her face in her hands and knelt down on the floor. Exhaustion and fear had taken its toll on her. The man in front of her tensed and his face hardened, the news of Daleks had hit him hard.

“There are no more Daleks.” He declared to her, his jaw had tensed.

“What are you talking about?” She looked up at him from her knelt position and threw her arm out to point at no where in particular. “I just saw them! They were burning up the city!” The man looked away to stare at a pair of blue doors. Perhaps he was thinking about the robotic aliens, Willow didn’t know. However at this point in time, Willow was so frustrated with him that she could feel her eyes fill with unshed tears. “Everyone was screaming. The planet was so beautiful. It had two suns, red grass and circular writing that made absolutely no sense.. but now it’s on fire.” The man’s eyes widened and he turned his head to look at her so fast that Willow wouldn’t have been surprised if he got whiplash.

“Forget what you saw. It’s all over now.” Willow frowned at him.

“No it’s not. It’s burning right now. I just came from there.”

“Gallifrey is no more. I made sure of that.” Pain was evident from his voice at his last words. Willow felt the need to comfort him but at the same time, she simply couldn’t believe that not only had she jumped to a different place, she had also jumped in time. What about Theta and Koschei though? She couldn’t believe this man and go on about her merry way. She had to find a way to save the boys. If she could, than that would be all that mattered to her. They helped her before and it was only right for her to return the favour. She stood up and decided that she’d rather believe that all was not lost than giving up.

“I don’t believe you...” He looked at her for a moment before he walked over to her. He bend down so that their faces were a foot apart and level to each other.

“Well, tough. Believe it. You can’t go back so you may as well tell me whereabouts your from and I can send you back.” He glanced down at her wristband. “Though you’ll have to give me that vortex manipulator you’ve got on your wrist. You’re definitely not a Time Agent so I can only guess you’ve nicked it.” He outstretched his hand and Willow took a few steps back.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about but I’m not giving this to you.” His eyes were stern as he took steps forward to break the space between them.

“How did you steal it?” He demanded.

“I didn’t steal it! It was a birthday present from my father!” Willow cried. “But this is my only way to get back to Theta!” The man froze and his eyes widened. Willow had finally remembered the boys name but she hadn’t expected this kind of reaction.

“How do you know of him?” He demanded, his tone harsh.

“That’s none of your business!” She retorted. It only added more fuel to the fire.

“It has everything to do with my business, and if you don’t answer me I’m prepared to throw you out of my Tardis.” He threatened. Willow frowned at him. She didn’t take well to being threatened. He behaved as though he were one of her former students back in China when they didn’t have their own way. He seemed to sense her resentment as he gave her a cold look and continued.

“You’ve entered my home without permission. The least you can do is tell me how you know Theta. He wouldn’t know a scrawny human like you. You’re head being abnormally bigger than the rest of your body, what do you do? Eat air pie?! Not to mention the bags under your eyes could lift my past selves and me at once. What have you been doing? Have you been avoiding sleep for the past century?! And who in their right mind would walk around with just one….” His eyes went wide as he paused briefly, as though his mind was processing everything at full speed.

“Shoe…” He Finished. The man’s body had gone rigid, and Willow couldn’t help but be relieved that he had stopped. Willow could feel her fists clench by her side. He was rude and aggravating and if he had carried on, she would’ve probably caved in and punched the Northern prat in front of her. Though, she was thrown as to how her wearing one shoe would completely throw him off his tracks. Then again, she’d have found it odd if she met someone waltzing around without wearing both pairs either.

“Let’s go on a little trip!” He cried out suddenly, he turned his back to Willow and ran towards the control center. His whole personalty had done a complete 180 and it completely threw Willow off of her tracks. “Where do you want to go? The Jungle of Enniri or the ocean of Urania? They have a crackin’ sea salt soda. It’s better than it sounds.” He added quickly.

“I just want to help Theta.” Willow answered dejectedly. He glanced her way before pulling down a lever.

“Theta will be fine without you. He’s resourceful.” She felt herself frown.

“He’s a boy for crying out loud! Can’t you understand that?!” The man appeared from behind the control pillar to frown at her.

“And I’m telling you that, that kid is resourceful. He’ll be fine.” He pulled another lever. Willow ran up to the controls and behind the pillar so she could face him.

“How could I just follow you to wherever you want to go?! I don’t even know your name!” He contemplated before reaching out his hand, his eyes moved back to the controls.

“Nice to meet you, I’m the Doctor.” She hesitated before shaking his hand. It was calloused and raw as though he had worked way too much in his lifetime and they were cold. His hands were a good representation of how Willow could describe him as a person. She didn’t feel comfortable. There was something about him that felt... wrong.

“Well, like I said. I’m-“ he interrupted her.

“Willow, yes I know. You’ve said.” He waved her off. “You may want to get some new shoes out back. We can’t exactly go out with you only wearing one shoe now, can we?” Willow shook her head.

“I don’t want to go out with you.” He faced her again, frustration evident on his features.

“You can’t go back there. It’s impossible.” Willow felt her stubbornness flair. She hated being told what she could or couldn’t do.

“Well I don’t believe that.” Willow lifted the flap of her wristband.

“Don’t do it Willow! You’ll be sent off somewhere else and there’s no guarantee you can get back from-“ Willow ignored him and slammed her hand on the middle button again.

“Willow! Don’t-“ But Willow never heard the last of his sentence because she felt the familiar feeling of being sent through a drain and slammed her eyes closed. Ready to take the chance and try to find her back on Gallifrey to save Theta.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, hope you're all safe during the Coronavirus spreading around the world. I'm sorry that this chapter is a little short and delayed. I had my mum visit me in Japan to see how I was doing and when she got back home to the UK we found out my grandfather has Corona and my Grandmother and Uncle could have caught it from him. It's lucky my mum did visit me here otherwise she could've caught it as well.
> 
> As an apology for this chapter being so short, the next one will be over 10k. It's the first big chapter from the story and you'll meet companions. There are a few I don't particularly like but they are relevant to the episodes that will be included and I want to work on their character and try to develop them as well. I'll try and upload that chapter within the next week or so (no promises though). The next chapter is around 90 percent done and chapter five is around 25 percent completed. So as long as there isn't much more drama spreading in my family, it should be up at a sooner time.
> 
> Please everyone, stay smart and stay safe during these times.


	5. Chapter 4

Feeling as though the wind had been knocked out of her, Willow swayed on the spot and threw her hands out to steady herself.It looked similar to the place she had been before with the mad man with the buzz cut hairstyle and leather jacket. In his place however, she found a man and woman talking amongst themselves in the center of the room.It looked as though they were having an argument about something since the girl had a frown on her face whilst the man looked increasingly frustrated. He wore a light brown suit with a pin stripped dirt brown waistcoat inside with a matching tie. He must have been the type to run his hand through his hair often because it looked ruffled and wild. The girl however looked a little younger than Willow, she had short blonde hair that had definitely been a dye job as it seemed a tad patchy in various areas and the roots were beginning to show. She wore a navy jacket which hugged her figure along withjeans that rested on her hips. She looked as though she had just barely finished college.

The man seemed to notice Willow’s presence because he turned and gave her the brightest smile he could muster.

“You’re back! That was one hell of a toilet trip, Willow. I thought you’d left!”

“Do I know you?” The Doctor paused and his eyes seemed to dull slightly as he regained his composure.

“Not in this form.” His voice had lowered slightly and he had turned slightly rigid. “Where did you just come from?” He seemed to be trying to keep his voice as upbeat as it had been earlier. He seemed to be aware of her being able to travel with the device as he seemed to glance down at it with slight irritation.

“I tried to go back to help a boy but I can’t go back to that planet. You wouldn’t understand. I…I have to keep trying-” Willow opened the flap of leather on her strap but a hand appeared and gripped onto hers before she could press a button.

“You can’t go back to Gallifrey. That device will only send you elsewhere now.” Willow felt her breath catch her throat as she threw her head back to look up at him.

“How do you know about Gallifrey?!” Thoughts ran through her mind at a breakneck speed. Questioning how he knew about her, how he knew which place she had been referring to. He didn’t at all seem confused by her sudden appearance the room either.

“Hey Willow, is everyfin’ alrigh?” She turned to see the blonde had walked over to her with concern, she had missed the look of relief the Doctor had shown in that split second. He hadn’t wanted to answer that question yet. “You seem a bit strange?”

“Who are you? How do you all of you know me?!” Willow asked, she turned and noticed a couple more people had joined them and looked at her oddly. She took note that everyone in the group looked at her with concern. The man who had initially spoken to her seemed to take the reins and turn to the group behind him.

“Everyone, don’t crowd Willow too much. She’s probably still in a little shock. Don’t tell her anything, _anything_ Ricky”. He pointedly stared at the only other man in the group, who had raised his hands in defense.

“I weren’t gonna say anyfin.” The blonde frowned and turned to the man in the suit which seemed to know Willow a bit too much for her liking.

“How come she don’t remember us?” The man ran a hand through his hair in frustration and Willow was starting to get irritated with how much she didn’t know.

“This is her first time meeting us, Rose. Just like it was your first time meeting her and she already knew you, it’s now your turn.” Seemingly satisfied with his own answer to her question, he gave her a boisterous smile before turning back to Willow.

“Right, we can’t go into details right now but I’m The Doctor, you’ve already met my other face. This is Rose, Ricky-“ The man cut him up.

“Mickey” He corrected.

“Yeah, him. And this is Sarah Jane.” He indicated to the eldest woman in the group. Sarah smiled at Willow and offered her hand. She was the only one in the group to do so and Willow shook hers.

“Nice to meet you, Willow. You look younger, how old are you now?” Willow must’ve given her an odd look because Sarah hesitated before continuing. “Or is it a little too personal?” Willow slowly shook her head whilst keeping her gaze on Sarah. It felt odd that she wasn’t as frightened about being here compared to the other places that she had been to. Then again she had been chased by humanoid aliens on Gallifrey and met an overbearing arse just prior to this. She seemed to be back on Earth considering the amount of humans she had just met. They must’ve been human, their mannerisms were too relatable and the blonde girl, Rose sounded like a typical London teen. This made it much easier for her to relax. She’d finally be able to go home.

“I’m twenty two.” Willow answered. This satisfied Sarah but caused confusion for The Doctor, whom approached her and leant forward. He scrutinized her face and after a few seconds her turned to Sarah with a frown.

“How could you tell she was younger?” Sarah gave him an exasperated look.

“How could you not? The Willow before was much more comfortable and relaxed. This Willow is young, new and has zero worry lines.” She quickly turned to Willow. “He can sometimes be a bit unbearable which is why you’ll develop them. Don’t worry too much about itthough, we all get them at some point.” Willow nodded dumbly and touched her face mutely, as though checking to see if she could feel any indents in her skin and confirming that she had indeed definitely not received any lines yet.

The Doctor clapped his hands together to get everyones attention before turning to Willow again.

“Now, to get you up to scratch because I can’t very well leave you here by yourself, who knows what could happen. Especially since you’re so new into everything. We’ve been investigating a school with incredibly smart kids- too smart.” He noticed Willow’s raised brow. “It’s a state school and they have knowledge far beyond the expectation of humans.It’s impossible for the human brain to comprehend. Now, I know you’re not too adversed with physics so I’ll spare the details. However, we’ve found out that the Krillitanes are involved and hoho~ they’re nasty blighters. So the plan is to find out exactly what it is that they’re doing and put a stop to it.”

“Uhh...” Willow was speechless. She had absolutely no idea what had just came out of this man’s mouth and she was completely thrown by the familiarity he seemed to have with her.

“I know this must be confusing but you’re going to have to get to terms with it. You’re going to need a new pair of shoes though. It’ll be pretty difficult running with us with one heel.” Willow blinked and looked down at her feet. She had completely forgotten that she still only wore one shoe after all the events that had happened to her. He ran past her and headed down the corridor in a flash.

Willow didn’t know what to make of everything. The group in front of her were staring at her as though they had just seen a ghost.

“What…exactly is going on?” Willow heard herself ask them. The blonde walked up to her and gave her a kind but slightly strained smile. She seemed uncomfortable with Willow being there for some strange reason.

“You’ll get used to it. You’ve known him longer than me. Well, maybe not right _now_ buh you do.” Willow frowned in confusion. She had no idea what Rose was saying. The man _did_ look vaguely familiar to her but how could she have known him longer than her?

“Right! Willow-here you are!” The Doctor had returned and placed some trainers in front of her, he beckoned her to sit down on the chair next to him. “Don’t worry about the size, you’ve already told me what you wear. Nice pair, right?” He gave her a small teasing wink which Willow returned with a confused blink. She sat down and picked up one of the trainers in front of her and inspected. They were a pair of Sketchers running shoes that were black with the S logo on the side being a pale pink. She had to admit that they were a very nice looking pair and judging by the grin widening on the Doctor’s face, he could almost read what she was thinking. She glanced back down at the shoes. She didn’t particularly have much of a choice about wearing them or not as she couldn’t very well walk around with only one shoe on. Willow thanked him quietly and changed her shoes.

“How did you know that I’d like them?” Willow asked. She finished tying her shoes and the Doctor gave her his hand to help her stand. He waited until she balanced herself before replying.

“You’ve already told me you liked them. The future you I mean.” He explained. “Since I already knew you liked them it was a safe bet to choose a new pair of them.” Willow offered a small thanks which made him beam at her.

“So, how are we going to find out what those Krill-what-a-mah-jigs are doing then?” Willow asked slowly. Mickey jumped into the conversation.

“We’re going to go back to the school, clear everyone out and confront them.” Willow followed his gaze and looked over at the blonde by his side to see that her attention was more wrapped up staring in The Doctor’s direction. Mickey’s eyes dulled slightly which was a stark contrast to the pride that had been shown moments before. Willow wasn’t sure what was going on but clearly there was some form of love triangle happening. Mickey clearly had affections for Rose, Rose’s attention was on the Doctor and the Doctor... the Doctor was watching her. His eyes shone with joy as though he was excited that she had no idea what was going on. It was unnerving to Willow just how familiar he was behaving towards her. Sarah seemed to sense Willow’s discomfort because she took a step forward and put an arm around her. Her direction of attention was towards the Doctor.

“Don’t we have a school to help? We really should get going as it’s time to get to work.” The Doctor broke out of his revere and coughed slightly. They all agreed with Sarah and went on their way to the school.

xXx

They arrived at Deffry Vale high school in Sarah Jane’s car. Both Rose and Mickey sat at the back of the car and Willow ended up sat at the side, sitting behind Sarah Jane in the drivers seat. Throughout the journey, Mickey has tried to crack some jokes to relieve his nerves but Rose hadn’t humored him at all. Every opportunity Rose had, she’d try and capture the Doctor’s attention. It didn’t seem to affect Mickey as much as Willow would’ve thought, he must’ve been used to her behavior by now. The Doctor had occasionally responded to Rose’s comments but he had kept his eyes on the road whilst occasionally reminiscing with Sarah about their old adventures together. This had made Rose almost foam at the mouth with jealousy.

“Rose and Sarah. You both go to the Math’s room. Crack open those computers, I need to see the hardware inside. Here, you might need this.” The Doctor went into his pocket and pulled out the same laser device as the man Willow had been previously met before. Did they know each other? They had the same interior in their home as well. She hadn’t thought of looking outside though with the previous bloke. She had a nasty shock when she found out just recently she had been in a police box that should’ve been way smaller on the inside. Could they bebrothers? They looked nothing alike and had different dialects. Willow frowned and rubbed her temples as the Doctor gave the laser to Sarah and glanced in her direction.

Mickey frowned and crossed his arms in annoyance. He was left behind and knowing they were on a dangerous mission frustrated him to no end that he would have to be separated from Rose yet again.

“And where am _I_ going?” He demanded from the Doctor. The Doctor gave him a passing look.

“Mickey, your surveillance. I want you outside.” Mickey’s arms fell to his sides and his mouth gaped slightly. Sarah took out her keys and threw them to him, which Mickey caught effortlessly.

“Here, take them and keep K9 company.” Before Mickey could respond, the Doctor smirked slightly before adding.

“Don’t forget to leave the window open a crack.” Mickey gave him an odd look.

“But he’s metal!” He replied. With that, Willow knew exactly what the Doctor was implying before he said it.

“I didn’t mean for him.” The frown deepened on Mickey’s face as he grumbled about things not being very fair. Rose laughed softly at the testosterone between both men and didn’t take the remarks too serious as she turned to the Doctor. Her eyes shone with joy and idolization as she asked him.

“What’re you going to do?” The Doctor gave Rose a small wink.

“It’s time I had a word with Mr Finch.” He straightened his tie slightly.

“By yourself? Let me go with you instead!” Rose replied, not liking the idea of separating from the Doctor even for a second. Willow glanced over at Mickey to see him purposely fumbling with Sarah Jane’s keys in his hands, not wanting to be called out for listening in.

“Who said I’d be by myself?” The Doctor turned his head to give a goofy smile to Willow, he hadn’t noticed that she was growing increasingly frustrated with everything that was happening around her. “C’mon then Willow. I can’t leave you out of my sight. Especially with this being your first adventure with me.” Willow broke her gaze from Mickey and raised a brow at the Doctor before glancing to see Rose’s reaction. She looked absolutely crushed.

“I think I’d rather stay here...” The Doctor rolled his eyes playfully and reached over to grab Willow’s hand. He effortlessly pulled her towards him, his smile never leaving his face.

“Don’t worry. Once you’ve had this adventure you’ll get the taste for it. It looks like it’s my turn to drag you along for once!”

“No really, I’ll stay here with Mickey.” The Doctor ignored her and grabbed her hand. He pulled her towards the school, leaving the rest of the group in their wake.

xXx

It wasn’t long before both Willow and the Doctor had scoured the halls and floors to find the head teacher Mr Finch. Eventually, they headed towards the swimming pool and across the pool they had found the person they had been looking for. The man was most certainly human albeit the sinister look he gave. His receded hair was slicked back with gel to the back of his head, which had made his forehead look larger than it already was. He wore a solid black suit that was prim and proper for anyone in the position of headteacher and it suited is stature nicely. This wasn’t a man that looked “alien”.

“Are you sure that’s him?” Willow whispered with a frown on her face. She felt conflicted the more she looked at the man but the Doctor shushed her harshly, his never tore from the man in front of him. His hand still held Willow’s.

“Who are you?” The Doctor yelled from across the pool. The headteacher tilted his head slightly and gave the faintest of smirks.

“My name is Brother Lassa. And you both?” He asked in what appeared to be a nonchalant way.

“The Doctor, and Willow.” The Doctor answered within a heartbeat. It sounded as though it were second nature for him to speak her name so easily. Had he been telling her the truth before that they had known each other for quite a while? Throughout the time that they’ve spent together so far he spoke to her as though they were old friends.

“Since when did Krillitanes have wings?” Willow broke out of her thoughts and turned to Lassa. He didn’t look perturbed as he started to stalk around the pool, in fact he looked amused that the Doctor had even asked him that question.

“It's been our form for nearly ten generations now. Our ancestors invaded Bessan. The people there had some rather lovely wings. They made a million widows in one day. Just imagine.” Willow had no idea what Bessan was but the sheer joy coming from the sound of his voice after announcing that they had massacred a ton of people made Willow’s blood run cold. The man in front of them was a psychopath!

The Doctor seemed to sense what had been running through Willow’s head because a second later she felt an arm wrap around her in comfort. She looked up at him to give her thanks but he was too preoccupied keeping his never waving eyes on Lassa.

“And now you're shaped human.” The Doctor concluded.Lassa gave an off handed shrug.

“A personal favourite, that's all.” As he started to creep closer, the Doctor pulled Willow with him and they stalked around the pool in the opposite direction so that they kept their distance from the headteacher.

“And the others?” The Doctor asked.

“My brothers remain in bat form. What you see is a simple morphic illusion. Scratch the surface and the true Krillitane lies beneath. And what of the Time Lords? I always thought of you as such a pompous race. Ancient, dusty senators, so frightened of change and chaos. And of course, they're all but extinct. Only you. The last.” Willow’s eyes widened as she looked up again at the Doctor. She had heard of the Time Lords before, Koschei had mentioned it in passing before they left for the initiation for the academy. He must’ve been from the same planet as them. Willow decided that as soon as they had some time, she would ask him if he had heard of the boys. Perhaps they managed to escape the planet before it was set on fire, she could only hope that when she had arrived to see the planet in that state, that she had travelled in time as well. She wouldn’t believe he was the last.

“This plan of yours. What is it?” The Doctor asked Lassa, he had been completely unaware of the thoughts that were spiraling through Willow’s mind.At his question, Lassa laughed. His eyes shone with mirth.

“You don't know?” He countered with his own question back to the Doctor.

“That's why I'm asking.” The Doctor responded. Willow glanced up at him to see his face stoic. He clearly didn’t like not knowing what was going on and Lassa’s antics were clearly irritating him further. She felt the Doctor grip on her hand tighten slightly, yet not enough to feel uncomfortable. If she hadn’t of known any better, it would’ve been more of a comforting squeeze rather than from irritation.

“Well, show me how clever you are. Work it out.” Lassa wanted to play a game. In his mind he had the winning deck of cards and wanted the Doctor to continue playing to mock him further.

“If I don't like it, then it will stop.” The Doctor announced. His voice held a high authority as his back straightened slightly. This only seemed to amuse Lassa further.

“Fascinating. Your people were peaceful to the point of indolence. You seem to be something new. Would you declare war on us, Doctor?” Lassa asked with amusement. He hadn’t felt threatened at all which had been foolish in Willow’s opinion. There were moments where you should follow your gut instincts and if she had been opposing the a Doctor right at this moment, she would’ve known that the best course of action would’ve been to run in the opposite direction.

“I'm so old now. I used to have so much mercy. You get one warning. That was it.” The Doctor announced as though the case were closed. Both parties stopped walking around the pool and the Doctors eyes held a blazing fire in them. Willow on instinct squeezed the Doctors hand to try and cam him but he ignored her and kept his eyes on Lassa.

“But we're not even enemies. Soon you will embrace us. The next time we meet, you will join with me. I promise you.” Lassa concluded. The Doctor gave him a final look before turning to Willow.

“Willow, lets go.” Willow paused slightly and glanced back at Lassa’s amused look. He clearly believed he had won everything already and it made her want to slap the smirk off of his face.

“But what about...-“ Willow started but the Doctor cut her off.

“Later. We need to solve this first.”

xXx

Both Willow and the Doctor ran through the school in search of Rose and Sarah. They first searched the Math rooms to find that both women were no longer there and the Doctor gave out a frustrated huff. Clearly he didn’t like it when people went off on their own without him knowing. After Willow suggested that perhaps they moved to the computers in the IT room, the Doctor gave her an almighty smack of the lips on her forehead and ran ahead.

The doctor managed to find the classroom with ease and thrusted it open with Willow in tow. He noticed both women laughing together which had been a first, they hadn’t exactly been seeing eye to eye with each other since they had first met. He didn’t particularly want to bring it up as he wanted to try and let both women solve it between themselves and he was glad he had. However, they had work to do.

“How’s it going?” Both women turned to him and let out an almighty roar of laughter. It was starting to irritate him.

“What? Listen, I need to find out what’s programmed inside these.” The laughter increased and he was starting to get a headache.

“What? Stop it!” He demanded but his efforts remained futile and he ended up having to wait until both women calmed down. It had only taken a few minutes but as time was rather precious; it only seemed to increase the Doctor’s irritation that both women would be so... human at this time and place and not look at the bigger picture.

As soon as the room quietened down and everyone had got to work, they were interrupted by a klaxon.

_“All pupils to class immediately. And would all members of staff congregate in the staff room.”_ Willow felt her blood run cold and before anyone else jumped to their feet, Willow ran towards the door and slammed it shut.

“Willow, what are you doing?” The Doctor asked in confusion. He seemed to have forgotten where they were.

“Doctor, we’re _in_ a classroom!” His mouth formed an ‘o’ and he headed to the computer to try and hack into the CPU himself. Even with his extensive knowledge on electronics, it was going to take him some time to try and hack the mainframe and knowing that the students would start to head to the classroom made the Doctor realize he had to act fast.

Willow peeked through the glass of the classroom door and saw the hoard of students start to march their way down the corridor.

“They’re coming!” Willow cried out. She heard the Doctor grunt in reply, a few cords resting in his teeth.

Rose stood and ran over to Willow. They both placed their body weight upon the door in preparation of the students trying to enter. However, the two young women were already no match for the group of twenty students that started to crowd the door and try to enter.

“Doctor, you may want to hurry up and figure something out!” Willow yelled out as the door was beginning to forcefully be pushed open. The Doctor grunted back, he hadn’t looked in their direction as he has been too focused on the work in front of him.

“No, no. This classroom's out of bounds. You've all got to go to the South Hall. Off you go. South Hall!” Rose yelled at the students. She made a shoo gesture with her hands and whilst a couple of students looked at her oddly, a vast majority of them started to disperse. Willow kept her grip on the door and made sure to keep applying pressure incase a student decided to disregard Rose.

“Doctor, how’s it going over there?” Willow asked whilst wincing as two students decided to simultaneously push against the door at the same time. She glanced over and notice the Doctor with wires wrapped around his neck and shoulders as he worked on the PC.

“I can’t shift it.” Sarah looked at him horrified as she held the discarded parts that the Doctor had pulled out of the PC by his side.

“I thought the sonic screwdriver could open anything!” The Doctor glanced at her before he went back to frowning at the desktop that he had pried open. The case was discarded by the side and wires were still wrapped around his neck.

“Anything except a deadlock seal. There’s got to be something inside here. What’re they teaching those kids?”

There was a flash. The computers within the room all flickered on barring the computer the Doctor had been ripping apart. The large projector came to life and numbers darted across the screen. Sarah directed her attention at the Doctor. His face remained blank as his eyes darted along the lines. He was trying to figure out exactly what it was however judging from the frown that developed on his face, the Doctor couldn’t exactly pinprick what it was.

“You wanted the program? There it is.” The Doctor glanced in Sarah’s direction before looking back at the screen. His frown not leaving his face.

“It’s some sort of code.” It was only until a minute later until the screen flickered and the CPU had started to resolve itself did the Doctor’s face pale slightly and the horror on his face formed.

“No. No, that can't be.” He cried. It had caught everyone’s attention since Rose’s pressure holding the door subsided as she placed all her attention on the Doctor. She took a step forward to him and in turn she had left Willow with the straggling students trying to make their way in to the only empty remaining computers in the school.

“What’s wrong Doctor?” The Doctor kept his attention on the screen rather than Rose. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

“The Skasis Paradigm, Rose. They're trying to crack the Skasis Paradigm.” Willow wanted to ask what the Skasis program was but her voice caught the back of her throat as she felt a student kick the shatterproof glass into the back of the hough of her leg. She bit back a yelp of pain when the glass bent against it. It hadn’t caught anyone’s attention but a part of her had wished that Rose had noticed. She had become so consumed in the Doctor that she either disregarded her surroundings or didn’t particularly care for them. Willow’s lack of knowledge on the Skasis program seemed to not only be her though, Sarah seemed confused as well.

“The Skasis what?” The Doctor didn’t seem confused at her lack of knowledge on the subject.

“The God maker. The universal theory. Crack that equation and you've got control of the building blocks of the universe. Time and space and matter, yours to control.” Willow’s face paled as she started to realize what that meant. She couldn’t imagine any living creature being able to have that much power and didn’t particularly want to think about it either. Rose however, didn’t seem to understand what he was implying but was starting to catch his drift.

“What, and the kids are like a giant computer?” She asked and the Doctor nodded.

“Yes. And their learning power is being accelerated by the oil. That oil from the kitchens, it works as a, as a conducting agent. Makes the kids cleverer. “ Rose had a look of horror on her face as she started to clock onto what he had been explaining to her.

“But that oil's on the chips. I've been eating them.” The Doctor nodded and in a heartbeat he decided to put her to the rest to further elaborate his point.

“What's fifty nine times thirty five?”

“Two thousand and sixty five.” Rose answered automatically. Her face fell into her hands as she paled on the spot.”Oh, my God.” Sarah frowned at the conversation between them both, there was something that had been bothering more than just the chips.

“But why use children? Can't they use adults?” There was a loud _crash_ and Willow felt glass shards drop on top of her head and along her back. The red cylinder of a fire extinguisher came above her peripheral vision. The remaining students had used the item to smash the glass on the door. They were most certainly creative and...

“They need imagination!” Willow yelled. She shook her hair to try and shake out as much glass out of her hair as possible whilst remaining at the door. She felt the students try and nudge her with the fire extinguisher against the shattered glass along her back. She winced at the pressure. Thankfully the remaining glass had been shattered but it stayed in one piece.

“That’s my Willow! She’s right, it's got to be children. The God maker needs imagination to crack it. They're not just using the children's brains to break the code, they're using their souls.” The pressure on Willow’s back stopped and she took a peek through the door. The students had left and she released a sigh of relief. The Doctor beckoned her over whilst keeping his eyes on the screen. Willow silently complied and stood next to him as he used his hand to brush her down with the small shards on her person. She thanked him for his help and she noticed in the corner of her eye that Rose looked completely put out by his gesture towards Willow. Willow couldn’t help but let out a suppressed sigh. Willow understood that Rose was only a few years younger than her however they were not still in school and it wasn’t time to pine for your affections towards another. Students souls were being sucked for goodness sake.

As the Doctor finished his patting, a figure entered the room and everyone was faced with the familiar view of the headmaster. Lassa was back and he had a smirk on his face that was too irritatingly smug for everyone’s liking. It was as though he thought he had won already.

“Let the lesson begin. Think of it, Doctor. With the Paradigm solved, reality becomes clay in our hands. We can shape the universe and improve it.” Willow felt the Doctor’s hand slide into hers. She looked down at their hands intertwined and felt the confusion swarm into her mind. She pushed it to the back of her mind. He clearly felt as though he needed support through this and they had both encountered Lassa together previously.

“Oh yeah? The whole of creation with the face of Mister Finch? Call me old fashioned, but I like things as they are.” Lassa rolled his eyes at his comeback but his smirk never wavered. He had another dice up his sleeve and his tone slightly changed to a more empathic tone.

“You act like such a radical, and yet all you want to do is preserve the old order? Think of the changes that could be made if this power was used for good.” The Doctor was not convinced however because he frowned.

“What, by someone like you?” Lassa shook his head.

“No, someone like you. The Paradigm gives us power, but you could give us wisdom. Become a God at my side. Imagine what you could do. Think of the civilizations you could save. Perganon, Assinta. Your own people, Doctor, standing tall. The Time Lords reborn.” Willow felt as though a bucket of ice cold water had been tipped over her head. He was offering the Doctor something that nobody else could ever dream of doing. She had felt his hand slacken in hers and could sense his grief without needing to look at his reaction.

“Doctor, don't listen to him.” Sarah’s voice broke the silence and Lassa’s eye twitched in irritation.

“And you could be with him throughout eternity. Young, fresh, never wither, never age, never die. Their lives are so fleeting. So many goodbyes. How lonely you must be, Doctor. Join us.” Willow tightened her hand on the Doctor’s if not to only give moral support. However, her inner thoughts were conflicted also. The images of Theta and Koschei ran though her head. So many lives had been lost and if that man had been right previously, she wouldn’t be able to go back in time to save everyone. Her heart broke just thinking about it.

“I could save everyone.” She heard the Doctor say. His voice broken also, it made Willow start to doubt even for a fraction, that they’d even continue this fight. He was a grieving man and using his lost friends and family against him would more than likely be the easiest form of manipulation.

“Yes.” Lassa confirmed. His confidence growing with every passing second.

“I could stop the war.” Willow’s hand was almost cutting the circulation on the Doctors’ as she heard his inner conflict try and make the decision on what to do. She felt as though there wouldn’t be much she could say as her own selfishness thought of the two boys. Sarah’s voice broke the silence, her desperation for the Doctor to see the truth was apparent in her voice. She was frightened he’d turn as well.

“No. The universe has to move forward. Pain and loss, they define us as much as happiness or love. Whether it's a world, or a relationship, everything has its time. And everything ends.” The Doctor listened to her words with bated breath, anyone could see that he was hanging onto Sarah’s words. He ran a hand through his already ruffled hair and looked down at Willow by his side. He wanted to hear from her. However, there wasn’t much Willow could say either as she too wanted everyone from that planet to come back, even if it was morally wrong the way they’d go about it. She sucked in some breathe and spoke the words that felt as though it was a punch to the gut.

“If he can find a way to bring them back, then we can too without his help. We can find our own way if there is one.” She noticed his mouth twitch upwards at the end as he tried to hold back a smile. It made her heart warm slightly. In a way, the Doctor reminded her of Theta in this briefest moment. Theta knew what he needed to do when the situation came to it, but in the end he was still young and innocent and wanted to hear what others had to say. She hoped that they knew of each other, perhaps Theta had even mentioned to the Doctor that he had met her beforehand. She would’ve loved to hear that conversation between the two aliens.

As though Willow’s words made his resolve clear. The Doctor let go of Willow’s hand and grabbed the nearest chair to his person. He swung it as had as he could muster at the screen which had the code trying to be solved. The screen smashed loudly and in that slip second the Doctor gave an almighty roar.

“Out!” The group complied, leaving Lassa behind.

xXx

As they ran down the corridor, the Doctor took the lead. He spotted a staircase and beckoned the group down. Willow could hear the charging of footsteps behind them but she feared looking back. With every passing second the footsteps increased and she knew he was gaining more backup. Since arriving at this place in London, Willow’s safety and confidence had grown. She was back in her home city, seemingly back in her time zone too and the Doctor had such a profound confidence and charisma that she felt no need to be fearful. However, Willow was not stupid. She knew they were in a dangerous situation right now and as the blood pumped through her veins in adrenaline and the stitch formed in her left side of her ribs, she wish beyond anything that she was drinking tea with her grandmother in their living room.

They ran down the stairs and was greeted by a familiar figure.

“Mickey!” Rose cried. Mickey flung his arms around Rose and looked up at the Doctor who looked a tad amused by Rose’s display of affection towards her boyfriend.

“What’s going on, Doctor?”

“No time Mickey. We need to get out of here before they come!” The Doctor grabbed Willow and Sarah’s hands either side and ran past the couple. Rose watched the Doctor leave and unconsciously pulled away from Mickey, her sights set on following the Doctor. It was as though she punched him in the gut.

The group arrived at the school canteen and Willow pulled her hand away from the Doctor. He looked a tad confused by her action but Willow ignored his face as she scanned the room. A young boy was already inside, his eyes were watery with unshed tears and judging by his appearance, he had already known what was going on and had been trying to find somewhere to hide. He looked to be around thirteen years of age but shorter than the average child.

“We need something to block the door!” Mickey dove for a table and started to drag it along the room towards the door. The young boy that had already been in the room looked frantic.

Mickey’s attempt to barricade the door was short lived. The door was swung open by Lassa and Mickey ran back to Rose’s side. A mass of Bats followed Lassa into the canteen from behind.

“Are they my teachers?” Before running into the canteen, the boy had been able to see the Krillitanes charge upstairs in the opposite direction as him. Seeing abnormally large human sized looking bats would strike fear into anybody let alone a kid.

“Yeah, sorry.” The Doctor answered with apathy. Lassa turned his head to the side slightly, speaking towards his allies.

“We need the Doctor alive. As for the others? You can feast.” He had said the magic word. The Krillitanes swooped towards them and they ducked out of the way. Sarah, pulled the boy under the desk whilst Mickey done the same for Rose. The Doctor grabbed hold of Willow and pulled her down below him. He had turnt his body so that if they attacked from above, he would be shielding her body with his. Willow screamed in fear as he shoved her under the table and went under soon after her. They could all hear the screeches of battle cries coming from the Krillitanes as they swooped down at the table.

There was a loud bang. It was the noise of a door swinging forcefully open. The sound of a laser echoed within the room and one of the Krillitanes fell to the floor. A burnt out hole was visible through his body where the laser had hit.

The group looked through the cracks of the chairs underneath the table and Sarah looked as though Christmas had came early.

“K9!” Sarah wasn’t the only one. The Doctor’s face broke out in a huge toothy grin as the Robotic Dog wheeled further into the room.

“I suggest you engage running mode, mistress.” At K9’s words, the Doctor grabbed hold of Willow’s hand and pulled her out from under the table.

“Come on!” The Doctor yelled. The group complied and climbed out from under the table to follow. Lassa was curious as he barked out orders to destroy the dog. Sarah looked back in hesitation but the boy next to her was tugging her hand.

“K9! Hold them back!” The Doctor yelled as they ran towards the exit. It was a mighty good job that he had been holding Willow’s hand and pulled her along. His legs had been longer and he was much faster than her.

“Affirmative master. Maximum defense mode.” K9 continued to shoot laser beams towards to Krillitanes as the group ran out of the door. The Doctor grabbed his laser stick from his pocket and sealed the door behind him.

“This won’t hold them long. We have to keep running.”

“Buh where will we go?!” Mickey asked in between breathes.

“Come with me!” The Doctor cried. His hand grabbing the nearest to his, which had again been Willow’s. He ran towards the science department with everyone in tow.

xXx

As the group charged into the Physics laboratory, the Doctor released Willow’s hand. He adjusted his coat in a hurried manner. He leant on the table in thought.

“We need to think. _Quickly.”_ The rest of the group sat down in chairs as they pondered. They didn’t have long. Every second counted. Willow could feel her heart pound from her chest. She didn’t know if she could take this kind of stress. As she looked over, she noticed everyone else looked the same state as her. Mickey has his hand tightly holding Rose. Sarah had broken into a mild sweat as she held the young boy’s hand. He looked the most shaken out of the group. It wasn’t surprising as he seemed to be only thirteen years old (if that). If Willow hadn’t been in the state of panic that she was, she would’ve tried to comfort him herself.

“What if dere isn’t anything dat can stop them?” The Doctor rolled his eyes elaborately.

“There’s always something that can stop anyone. You just have to find it.” Rose lifted her head up and beaded at the Doctor.

“Why do they want control of everything? Why the universe?” The Doctor ran a hand through his hair in exasperation.

“For power. Like many people. They’ve an invasive species, they don’t stop until they’ve invaded everything and then each other. They’d never be satisfied.” The Doctor turned to Sarah, hopeful that perhaps she had an idea. “Sarah?”

Sarah shook her head. There was a slight pause and Willow wasn’t sure whether or not she even had a right to get involved. She barely knew what was going on let alone how to stop the Krilitanes.

“Willow? Have you got an idea?” The Doctor looked at her expectantly. “You look like you have.” Willow felt her ears go pink when she felt everyone’s eyes on her. She lowered her gaze to the table. Suddenly losing all will she had.

“Well, earlier you guys were talking about oil. That it was for the kids and their imagination. Why didn’t they use it on their own? Why a human school?”

There was a pregnant pause for a moment before the Doctor gasped, making everyone in the room jump.

“It's the oil!” He bellowed. “Willow, you’re brilliant!” Willow felt her face grow hot with her ears at his praise. He disregarded this and continued. “Krillitane life forms can't handle the oil. That's it! They've changed their physiology so often, even their own oil is toxic to them. How much was there in the kitchens?”

“Barrels of it.” Rose answered in monotonous voice. She wasn’t impressed with the vocal display of affection the Doctor had given for another person. The Doctor ignored her tone. It wasn’t something he had time to deal with during this pandemic. There was a loud BANG and talons ripped through the door of the classrooms. The Krillitanes were on their tail and they didn’t have a second to waste before the aliens were storming into that room and ripping them to shreds.

“Okay, we need to get to the kitchens. Mickey.” Mickey looked at the Doctor expecting to be sniped at again.

“What now? Hold all the coats?” The Doctor ignored his quip.

“Get all the children unplugged and out of school. Now then...” the Doctor tutted in thought. “Bats, bats bats.” He said under his breathe. “How do we fight bats?”

As though they were the magic words. The schoolboy that had joined their group jumped out of his seat. With a satisfied look on his face, he smashed the thin paper glass on the fire alarm and set it off in the school. As the high pitches siren screeched in the school, the boys face melted into a satisfied smile. He’d clearly been dreaming about the day he could set that alarm off.

“Genius!” The Doctor yelled, trying to make his voice heard past the siren. “Quick! To the kitchen!” The Doctor yelled as the group rushed to the exit of the classroom. Sarah grabbed hold of the boys hand and Rose ran in tow. Willow lagged behind in the group as her stitch started to form in her side again. Every breathe felt like needles stabbing her insides.

Mickey gave a brief wave to everyone before running in the opposite direction of the group. Rose looked a little thrown by his bravery but it hadn’t made her hesitate in running with the Doctor. As they ran past the aliens, everyone made a conscious effort to avoid being touched by them. It wasn’t until they had reached outside of the canteen, did the siren stop suddenly. They didn’t have much time before they were hunted again.

The Doctor opened the door to the Kitchen and held it open for the group, as he was about to run in after them, he heard a robotic monotone voice call out to him.

“Master.” The Doctor beamed as he turned and bent down. He outstretched his arms.

“Come on boy! Good boy!” Once K9 had reached him, the Doctor wrapped his arms around the robotic dog in a brief hug before encouraging him into the kitchen. He slammed the door shut behind K9 and used his laser device to seal the door shut.

The Doctor ran towards the group that stood in front of a number of barrels of oil near the back of the room. Rose was trying to lift open the lid of the closest one to her with a nearby crowbar however the lid would not budge. The Doctor nudged her away and used his laser device to scan the objects. Before Willow could yell at him to say that his laser wouldn’t open it, he spoke.

“They've been deadlock sealed. Finch must've done that. I can't open them. ” A robotic voice answered him.

“The vats would not withstand a direct hit from my laser, but my batteries are failing.” Willow blinked at K9, trying to process what he said. His batteries were failing him? The comment seemed to be sidelined however because soon the Doctor was trying to usher everyone out of the room.

“Right. Everyone out the back door. K9, stay with me.”

“What about you both though?” Willow found herself asking, her attention still drifting to the robotic dog by his side.

“I’ll be fine. Go!” Rose took a few steps towards the Doctor, rebelling against his words.

“But Doctor-!”

“Rose. Not now!” The tone of his voice indicated his finality on the matter. Sarah grabbed hold of Rose’s arm and led her out of the back door of the kitchen. Willow grabbed hold of the frightened young schoolboy and ran out with him. They shot back the two women and the boy yanked his arm away from Willow. He shot her a look before running further ahead towards the school gates.

Slowing down, Willow sensed someone by her side as she turned the corner. Rose had caught up to her and they both admired the whole crowd of students that Mickey had managed to save.

“Sarah wanted to wait for the Doctor and K9.” She said before Willow could ask. Willow gave the teen a weak smile and Rose unconsciously grabbed hold of her hand.

“It’s weird you don’t know me but you are/were/will be one of my friends.” Before Willow could answer her; a loud noise bellowed from the school behind them.

KaBOOM!

The school exploded in a burst of flames. Paper scattered and rained upon the scene. Children laughed and cheered amongst each other. Both Willow and Rose smiled at each other.

Willow hadn’t had a good time at her own secondary school. It was the reason why she wanted to be a teacher in the first place. She had been bullied by groups of girls and constantly had to watch her back. Her parents believed that she went to school and managed to solve things by herself but as they dropped her off to the bus stop and went to work, Willow would take the next bus home. Her grandmother knew what was happening and tried to convince her parents to let her switch schools but they didn’t have the time nor understanding of what it meant to be bullied at school. Willow’s grandmother would have a cup of tea ready in the kitchen once willow returned and they would spend the day buried in textbooks. Her grandmother didn’t understand half of what was written inside and Willow spent most of her time explaining to her grandmother her subjects. She was sure now that it was her grandmothers way of checking how much she could understand.

There was a loud cry of anguish and it broke Willow out of her train of thought. The same could be said to Rose as they ran back around the corner towards the school and noticed the Doctor with his arms around a sobbing Sarah. Rose ran over to help comfort and find out the reason for her tears but Willow noticed who was missing from the group. It was the robotic dog that had helped them escape initially. The Doctor continued to comfort the grieving woman. A tear slid down Willow’s face as she looked on to the school. A newfound sadness consumed her.

xXx

“You've redecorated.” Sarah remarked. She tried to keep her voice steady but Willow could hear the slight strain in her voice as she admired the inside of the Tardis. The Doctor watched her take a few steps inside and take in the sights.

“Do you like it?” He asked with slight bated breathe. Sarah was someone important to him and her approval would meant a lot.

“Oh, I, I do. Yeah. I preferred it as it was, but er, yeah. It'll do.” Sarah answered with slight hesitation. She hadn’t wanted to cause offense but as the thought back to her memories of being with the Doctor, it felt as though this wasn’t her home any longer. He’d moved on. She had to move on also. Not one to be left out, Rose involved herself in the conversation.

“I love it.” Rose commented. Willow blinked at Rose slowly. It was very difficult for Willow to understand her. She presumed that Rose wanted to involve herself because she didn’t want to feel left out but there was no subtly from the teen. She reminded Willow of her students back in China. Sarah turned and smiled warmly at Rose, her previous dislike for Rose had evaporated.

“Hey you, what's forty seven times three hundred and sixty nine?” Rose shrugged, her lack of interest in mathematics apparent.

“No idea, it’s gone now. The oil's faded.” Sarah’s smile remained on her lips.

“But you're still clever. More than a match for him.” Rose beamed at her.

“You and me both. Doctor?” The Doctor turned and unconsciously grabbed Willow’s hand by his side. It made Rose frown slightly whilst Willow was left a tad confused. She couldn’t understand his behavior towards her.

“Er, we're about to head off, but you could come with us.” The Doctor suggested but Sarah shook her head.

“No. I can't do this anymore. Besides, I've got a much bigger adventure ahead. Time I stopped waiting for you and found a life of my own. Willow?” Willow blinked and made a noise to suggest she was listening. She was surprised that Sarah had anything to say to her since they’d barely spoken. “I’m glad you found each other. He’s waited for you for a long time.” Willow felt the Doctor let go of her hand and she noticed him look away from both her and Sarah. He found the center of the control room rather interesting. Willow felt confused. Why had he waited for her? Was it because of Theta?

Sarah seemed to notice Willow’s confusion and found the Doctor’s reaction amusing. She recalled back to her travels with him and rarely did she ever see him even a tad embarrassed. It made him seem more human.

A small cough broke everyone’s train of thought. All heads turned to the young man that was the source. Mickey took a double take when he had so many eyes upon him but he swallowed something nonexistent and then spoke.

“Can I come? No, not with you.” He looked awkwardly over to Sarah before turning to The Doctor. “I mean with you. Because I'm not the tin dog, and I want to see what's out there.”

It was as though there were an elephant in the room. The elephant being Mickey. It was clear that there were people in this room that didn’t want Mickey joining them. Willow had noticed Rose had gone ridged by her boyfriend’s side and the Doctor stayed silent. Sarah didn’t seem to appreciate the silence over the boy too.

“Oh, go on, Doctor. Sarah Jane Smith, a Mickey Smith. You need a Smith on board.” The Doctor relented, it had always been tough to say no to his Sarah Jane.

“Okay then, I could do with a laugh.” He added as a backward comment. Willow nudged him. She didn’t appreciate his attitude towards the boy.

Mickey didn’t seem to notice the Doctor’s attitude towards him but turned to his girlfriend Rose. He placed his hands on hers and tried to look into her eyes whilst Rose tried to avoid his gaze without trying to be too conspicuous.

“Rose, is that okay?” Their eyes connected and Rose felt her body soften under his gaze slightly. Her resolve weakened slightly.

“No, great. Why not?” Everyone in the room besides Mickey could hear the lie in her voice. She clearly hadn’t wanted him to join in on their travels but she didn’t want to be the person to reject him. She couldn’t. She was still his girlfriend and she was his reason for wanting to go. Mickey’s face broke out in a huge smile as he wrapped his arms around Rose in pure joy. He was able to spend time with his Rose again. He wouldn’t have to wait until she came back from another set of adventures for another load of washing for her mother (even then she barely had time to tell him she had popped back). He broke away from Rose and too it upon himself to have a gander around the Tardis and around its corridors. If this was going to be his home for the next few weeks, he had to check it out.

“Well, I'd better go.” Sarah Jane announced. Her resolve was weakening and the longer she stayed in this Tardis, the higher the chance of her never wanting to leave it again. Rose took a step forward. She didn’t want Sarah to leave. Regardless of their differences, they’d managed to become friends.

“What do I do? Do I stay with him?” Rose heard herself ask. She wasn’t sure what to do now. Seeing the Doctor’s budding relationship with Willow threw her and she just didn’t know how to react or respond.

“Yes.” Sarah answered Rose confidently. “Some things are worth getting your heart broken for.” Sarah glanced over at Willow and the back to Rose. “Find me, if you need to, one day. Find me, Rose.” Rose took a step forward and hugged her newfound friend. It was going to be tough to say goodbye to Sarah and the words had escaped her.

Sarah released herself from the hug and smiled warmly at Rose.

Rose bit her bottom lip before turning to find Mickey. She couldn’t stick around to see Sarah leave. It was too painful already for her. Sarah smiled as she watched over the young girl walking away. It came no surprise to Sarah that Rose found it difficult to let things go, she was still young.

“Willow.” Sarah called for Willow’s attention and smiled warmly at the younger girl. “Look after him for me.” Willow gave a hesitant nod and she felt another pair of eyes set on her. Only a fool would think that it wasn’t Rose. It hadn’t taken her long to realize that she disliked anything or anyone involving themselveswith the Doctor. Perhaps they were having a fling behind Mickey’s back? She doubted it though. Whilst the Doctor seemed to have a slight dislike for the boy, he seemed to have high morality from what Willow could see.

Sarah bid everyone in the Tardis a parting goodbye and was escorted out by the Doctor. As they waited for the Doctor to return, Rose spoke to Mickey in hushed voices about the next adventures she planned to have with the Doctor whilst Willow had a gander around the Tardis control room. The last time she had been somewhere similar, she had been with a guy that sounded as though he was from Manchester and was pretty brash.

As Willow walked around the control panel, she took note of all the buttons. There were too many to count and a lack of information on what each button was for. She had half a mind to press a few buttons and experiment but Willow was not a fool. She didn’t want to mess anything up and get thrusted somewhere else again.

After what felt like an hour, the Doctor returned without Sarah. He looked at peace as he walked back into the Tardis and gave the group a warm smile. Meeting Sarah had clearly benefitted him a great deal. Rose unconsciously took a step back from Mickey and towards the Doctor. Any sadness of saying goodbye to Sarah had washed away as though it hadn’t happened.

“Are we leaving now, Doctor?” The Doctor straightened his jacket and smiled at Rose.

“We will in a moment. I just need to speak to Willow.” Rose for a split second looked as though he had just kicked her pet dog before she forced her face to go back to being passive. The Doctor ignored her slip up as he ran over to Willow on the command deck. Willow quickly placed her hands behind her back as though she were a child doing something wrong. She was sure he wouldn’t have appreciated her being so nosy.

“Willow.” The Doctor called to catch her attention.

“Doctor.” Willow responded with no hesitation.

“We couldn’t talk so much earlier and you’re new at traveling in time. It must be very confusing with what’s going on. I’m sorry that I didn’t couldn’t put you at ease beforehand.” Willow frowned slightly at his apology. It seemed genuine even though he had said it rather half heartedly. Willow however took his apology as an opportunity for her to ask him some questions. She assumed he’d be happy to answer some questions and she definitely had many.

“What did you mean before when you said that you had an “other” face?” The Doctor blinked as he processed her question. He contemplated before answering. It was a very difficult thing for him to explain the regeneration process and he rarely liked to mention his previous self.

“I can change form. When my body dies, my body saves itself by regenerating into a new body. You’ve already met my previous self. I was around this tall-“ The Doctor raised a hand and rested it almost a foot shorter than what he was. “had a buzz cut, - which I don’t particularly recommend. It can make your ears get cold very easily.” He paused as Willow let out a small laugh, he smiled at her reaction before he continued. “I also had a Manchester accent and you didn’t particularly like me.” The penny dropped and Willow’s laughter faded.

He was the rude northern bloke?! How could that be?! They had a completely different attitude towards her! Willow unconsciously put her hand over the device on her wrist and the Doctor looked uncomfortable.

“I’m not going to take the Vortex Manipulator away.” Willow hesitated but relaxed slightly. She felt as though she could trust this man. After all, he just helped a school full of children as well.His moral compass seemed to be working this time around.

“He said that you were the last time lord. Was that true?” Willow asked him. His eyes downcast but nodded in agreement.

“Yes I did and I am.” The Doctor responded after a few moments. Willow contemplated before asking. Did she really want to know the truth? If she found out they passed away that night she’d never forgive herself for running away. Though, the idea of not knowing tore her up inside in ways she couldn’t even describe. She cared for the boys of course, they helped her on the planet and even though she had only known them for a few hours it felt like it had been so much longer. She bit the bullet and decided to ask.

“There were two boys on that planet. One of them mentioned Time Lords which is how I know you must be from Gallifrey too.” The Doctor didn’t look confused, at what she was saying. It looked as though he had even been expecting her to ask this as well, though how would he have known? Oh right, time travel. Perhaps she had already asked him before. She decided to ignore the thoughts at the back of her head and continue to ask. “Do you know the boys I’m talking about?”

The Doctor nodded but remained silent.

“What happened to them?” She noticed his whole demeanor changed and there was some slight hesitation. The Doctor was unsure whether or not to tell her. She couldn’t imagine why, unless something _had_ happened and he didn’t want to tell her the truth. Perhaps _he_ had been the man that had caused Gallifrey to burn? Willow hadn’t thought of that and the bubbling of dread filled her stomach.

“I was that boy you tried to save, a long long time ago.” If Willow had been expecting anything, it wasn’t that.

It was at that moment, Rose had decided to jump into the conversation. Whether or not it was because she felt left out or felt a hint of jealousy Willow wasn’t sure. However Willow’s eyes never left the Doctor’s face.

“You’ve known her since you were a child? How?” The Doctors eyes stayed on Willow as he answered Rose’s questions.

“Time Lords have to enter the academy to train and understand the power of time travel. Upon my initiation, there was a strange task which had frightened me as a child. Willow used her Vortex Manipulator and had already made friends with me on Gallifrey. She pulled me away from it and she also saved me from a Dalek. That’s why she only had one shoe when she came here.” Willow bit her bottom lip, emotions flooded in her as she continued to stare at the man in front of her. Theta was no longer that little boy but a grown man in which she couldn’t save. She had a time traveling device, couldn’t she go back and rewrite history? The other man had said she couldn’t go back and that Gallifrey had been time locked. Maybe that was what he meant.Rose turned to Willow, she looked impressed but the tone of her voice seemed filled with disbelief.

“How did you defeat a Dalek?” Willow finally turned to Rose and shook her head.

“I didn’t defeat a Dalek. All I did was throw a shoe at it.” The Doctor rolled his eyes.

“She done more than that. The Dalek disappeared right in front of us.” Willow turned back to the Doctor.

“I didn’t do anything!”

“If that were the case, we wouldn’t be alive right now.” The Doctor answered matter-of-factly. There was a moment of silence before another child flashed in Willow’s mind. Willow’s face paled slightly as she thought about him. He was the boy she couldn’t get to during the initiation. Had he been okay after that? Did he die on Gallifrey?

“What happened to Koschei?!” Willow asked. The Doctor hesitated but caved in. Now that he had started talking, he couldn’t very well stop otherwise she’d have even more questions later on.

“He didn’t make it. He lived during the academy and over the years we had rivaled each other but in the end he passed away too.” Willow’s heart ached. Whilst she was relieved and happy to know that the Doctor had survived, she felt awful towards the poor boy that had welcomed her on his planet.

“I’m sorry.” Willow’s eyes brimmed with tears as she looked up at the Doctor’s face. He remained passive as he watched her start to cry. “I’m sorry I couldn’t stop everything from happening.” He shook his head.

“There was nothing you could’ve done.” At his words, hung her head softly and let a few more tears trail down her face. Rose walked over and wrapped a consoling arm around her.

“I’m going to have to let you leave soon though.” Willow’s eyes widened and she quickly wiped away her tears as she looked back at up him. The hope glimmering on her face.

“You’re helping me go home?” All she wanted to do right now was to climb into her bed, mourn and sleep. She didn’t care if that meant she pulled a sickie from work or quit her job in fact. Her job felt rather unimportant right now. The Doctor nodded.

“You’ve given me a date to send you back and I’m going to try and send you to that timeframe using your device. I can’t guarantee you’ll be back at the exact same timeframe however if you’re sent a couple of weeks in the past you’re going to have to find a way to hide yourself until your past self leaves.” Willow made a noise in agreement. The last thing she wanted to do was make things worse and after watching plenty of Back to the Future, she knew that if she done anything wrong she’d be in her own Marty Mcfly problem.

The Doctors eyed dulled slightly as he contemplated, whilst staring at the strap on her arm.

“Once you arrive, you’ll have to listen to everything I say. I don’t know whats going to happen during that time however you’ve met me before at a different point and told me to send you here so clearly it all works out.”

“I’m going to see you again?” Willow could hear the hope rise in her voice as she hesitantly asked him, knowing that if that were the case it wouldn’t be the end of their journey together. He gave her a wink in response.

“Just watch us run, Willow Smith.” He leant forward and pulled her into his arms. “You’re in for one hell of a journey and it’s only just started for the both of us” He continued, turning to whisper in her ear. “Just stay safe and do whatever it is that I ask of you.” Willow nodded in his arms and satisfied, the Doctor released her. Willow turned to Rose, who looked slightly out of place as she stood next to her boyfriend Mickey.

“Well, this is goodbye Rose, Mickey.” Rose gave her a brief and hesitate wave, her own inner conflict battling with her emotions as she saw Willow and the Doctor in such close proximity to each other. Mickey seemed to understand as he watched her reaction before waving himself.

“Bye Willow! Stay safe and find us when you get back, yeah? You owe me dat drink, init!” Willow laughed and nodded.

“That’ll be the first thing I do, Mickey.”

“You know it!” With reluctance, the Doctor placed his hand on Willow’s wrist and pulled out his screwdriver with his other hand. He used the sonic on the device and as he was doing so, Willow noticed a singular tear trail down his face. However, before she could ask him why this was effecting him so much, she felt the familiar tug and he quickly let go of her hand before she was thrusted back into the vortex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, 
> 
> Here is the chapter I promised due to the last one being a little later than planned. I hope I've managed to get rid of any errors in here as well. If you see a random letter inside the chapter thats out of place, I apologise. The rabbit kept jumping on my keyboard for attention and I scoured through the chapter to try and make sure I deleted them all. We've had our first introduction to 10 now as well as our introduction to Rose. I've never particularly liked Rose as a companion but I do want to give her some justice and credit where credit is due. 
> 
> I hope you didn't feel like this was a complete rerun of Season 2 episode 3 but I used the script rather than watch the episode so that I could flesh it out and add things into the story for my own purposes. I also added a lot of extra so that it didn't feel solely like a rerun. I'll do a few chapters like this but I'll also add my own adventures into the story too. 
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did writing it (even though it was slightly painful at times. I struggled finishing the last 2000 words haha)!


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, thank you so much for waiting. I'm sorry I couldn't upload this chapter sooner for you. Unfortunately, my grandfather who was my father had passed away due to Covid19 on the 5th April and his funeral is on the 5th May. Theres a part of this story that I found very difficult to write and make sure it came out the way I wanted it. I hope you can all understand.

As though it happened within a blink of an eye, Willow found herself in front of the same Doctor as she had moments before. The only difference was however, that Rose and Mickey were no where to be seen. She found herself in the middle of a moderately sized apartment that reminded her of her friends university days when she talked to Sam on webcam.

"Hey, Willow's back! You alrigh'?" A young woman that looked a similar age to Willow bellowed. She looked similar height to her albeit just half an inch sorter. Her dark hair was pulled back into a high ponytail and she wore a dark maroon jacket complimenting her dark pants.

The Doctor turned to face her and his face paled. He didn't look a day older besides wearing a change of clothes. He was sporting a electronic blue suit that seemed to only add to his character. It matched his hair that stood on end from being frequently ruffled.

The Doctor turned to Martha with a force so strong that Willow was surprised he didn't have whiplash.

"Martha, whats the date today?!" Martha looked between both him and Willow, and shrugged.

"Does it really matter?" The Doctor stood up from his seat on the sofa and grabbed her laptop off of the coffee table.

"Hey-!" Martha yelled, but he cut her off.

"2nd April 2008." The Doctor said to himself in thought. "2nd April 2008" He repeated, trying to recognize the date. It took a second for it to sink in, but when it did the Doctor's eyes had widened and he threw the laptop on the sofa. Ignoring Martha's cry of annoyance for the way he treated her property, he pulled a startled Willow into his arms and he held her tight as though to make sure she was really there.

"I'm sorry." Willow, confused with the constant contact with him and confused with his behavior, pulled away from him to create some distance.

"Why? You've brought me home." The Doctor gave her a pained look.

"Something is going to happen today. I can't go with you because of an anomaly already happening in this timeline. A man named Lazarus has announced that he has changed what it means to be human and I have to investigate." Willow was about to speak but he cut her off, continuing. "Once I am finished here, I'll come find you so that I can stop his. I can't let this happen to you." He frowned and looked like he wanted to pull his own hair out as he continued. "I shouldn't have listened to you back then and followed my gut instincts."

"Let what happen to me? Doctor, I don't understand what you're talking about."

"You need to listen to me. I already have your address. Go home and spend some time with your family. Under no circumstances should you go anywhere else."

Willow felt her heart pound in her chest. His panic was contagious.

"What do you mean?" She heard herself ask. The Doctor ignored her question. He placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Promise me Willow." His tone was forceful and Willow desperately wanted to divert his attention elsewhere.

"Okay. I promise." She uttered quietly to appease him. Seemingly satisfied, the Doctor released her shoulders.

"I'll see you soon." Willow gave him a curt nod and the woman by his side gave her a beaming smile.

"We'll see ya soon Wills. Try and get your nan to make her carrot cake, yeah? It's propa bangin" There was a brief pause, and Willow blinked slowly. She couldn't recall this woman and she had tried her grandmothers cake? Martha glanced over at the Doctor and noticed he pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

"That's Martha. I'll reintroduce you later, Willow." Martha frowned.

"You mean she doesn't know who I am?" Martha asked. The Doctor gave her a brief look.

"Later, Martha." He ignored her cries of confusion and and beckoned Willow to the front door. "Try not to speak to anyone Will. Don't even so much as look at someone. I just need to finish dealing with this here and it'll give you some time to be with your family. I'd take you there in my Tardis right now if I could but there's no guarantee we'd get back to this exact timeframe and not a week beforehand." Willow took her steps onto the front porch of the maisonette flat and turned on her heel to face the Doctor. He stood in the doorframe.

"Why? What's so dangerous?" The Doctor shook his head.

"I don't know. Something is going to happen but you never told me what." He ran a hand through his hair in exasperation and rummaged through his pocket. "Here." He gave her a crumpled rectangular piece of paper that looked old and mistreated. "I kept a five pound note in my pocket as a precaution." Hesitantly, Willow accepted the note in his hand.

"I'd be lucky if they even accept this...look at the state of it." The Doctor smiled at her warmly before they bid their goodbyes.

X

Walking down the streets of London had never felt daunting to Willow until today. The lack of sleep and words of caution from the Doctor had got to her. Every step she took felt like lead as she hunted for a main road to gather intel on where she was. If she had a working watch she would've counted the minutes that went by however knowing that her watch wasn't able to do so made her even more conscientious about time drifting away from her. It wasn't long before Willow found herself at Albert Bridge road. She noticed a huge park at the opposite end of the river and she realized that she was in Chelsea. Feeling more in her bearings. Willow headed towards Battersea park. Battersea Park train station was the train line she needed to head back to Croydon and it would take her roughly half an hour on the train.

Knowing that she was at the final stretch to be home and climb into her bed, Willow forced herself to walk faster towards the station. She had the option to take the bus but with only five pounds to her name she wouldn't have had enough money for the train home.

After walking for half an hour, Willow managed to find herself on the platform. She only had five minutes to wait until her train was due to arrive and there were only a few people on the platform.

She spotted an empty seat next to a forlorn looking man in a black suit which looked tailored. It was crisp and immaculate on him. The black tie and white chrysanthemum pinned on his suit indicated that this was no ordinary attire. Willow recognized it instantly. It was a similar suit which her father had worn to her mother's funeral. The man looked to be a decade older than her but his hand had gone through his chestnut coloured hair so much that his hair almost stood on end. The tired look on his face had aged him. Willow understood it. He looked dead inside. It reminded her of when she looked at herself into the mirror a few years ago.

Out of curtesy, Willow avoided speaking to him and sat down in the empty seat next to him. She had directed her attention towards the train tracks. She wanted to do what the Doctor had told her. She had to go straight home and not speak to anyone.

Sitting down when you're exhausted doesn't make time fly but Willow felt like it had. Once the train had arrived on the platform, the man next to her had stood up first and fully stood at the doors waiting for it to open whilst Willow struggled to stand. Her legs screamed at her and she could feel a headache brewing again. It was lucky that Willow was able to catch the train. Just as the doors were to close, Willow forcefully dragged herself onto the train and sat in the nearest seat available to her. The train had been almost empty but she found herself sitting opposite the man from the platform.

After sitting for five minutes, Willow couldn't help but spend every other second glancing in his direction. She knew how it felt to lose someone important to her. It was something she could never forget.

"Is everything okay?" Willow heard herself ask. The solemn man slowly lifted his head out of his dreary state to pinpoint the voice and his eyes widened slightly. Clearly he hadn't expected anyone to talk to him and it had thrown him slightly.

"I-I've just left a funeral." Willow felt her eyes drift towards the white chrysanthemum again. She had worn that dreaded flower too. She hated them.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Willow had said honestly.

"He was my best friend." The man continued as though her words had given him the permission to continue.

"I'm sorry." Willow repeated. "I know how it feels to lose a best friend. My mum was before she passed away too." The man nodded numbly, taking in every word she said. He hadn't taken his eyes off of her and she started to feel uncomfortable. He latched onto her every word and it unnerved her. Then again, grief came in a variety of ways and if conversation from a stranger was what done the job for him, she'd do what she could for him. She had already broken her promise to the Doctor to not speak to anybody. She may as well go the whole haul now so not to regret her actions, though there wasn't much she could say to a stranger about something this delicate.

"Where are you heading to?" Willow asked kindly.

"My family." His answers were short and hollow but the pleading look in his eyes told Willow that he needed to speak to someone.

"I'm sure that they'd like that a lot. What's your name?"

"Sam."

"Nice to meet you Sam. I'm Willow." He solemnly nodded in response which in turn made Willow bite the inside of her cheek. She wasn't good at consoling people, in fact she was absolutely terrible about it. When her best friend's cat passed away from old age, Willow wanted to console her and sympathize. Rather than saying "She lived a good life and he's no longer in pain" she ended up consoling with "he lived and now he's not suffering". Her words had cut her friend deeply and Willow realized her error. It took double the length of grieving before the cat mourning was laid to rest.

"What station are you getting off of?" It was difficult to console a stranger. It was difficult to find the correct words to say. Out of decency, Willow hadn't wanted to mention his friend. The last thing Willow had wanted to do was talk about her mother after everything that had happened.

"East Croydon."

"Ah, you're not too far from me. I live in Croydon as well but I get off at Norbury. It's easier to walk towards croydon from there. I live at Thornton Heath Pond. Do you know of it?"

Willow was met with silence. She chewed the inside of her cheek again in thought.

"Sam." He looked up at her again and Willow continued. "It's tough and it's going to be for a while. No one is going to understand what you're going through but yourself. The only thing that you can do is what you're doing now and that's being surrounded by people that love and care for you. I lost someone important to me a few years ago and it doesn't get easier. You just learn to manage it better." Sam lowered his gaze to the floor. Willow hoped he was contemplating her words. She said the words she had wished someone would've said to her when she left the funeral.

"Thank you." His words were so sincere and raw that Willow felt a familiar lump hit the back of her throat. Being as physically tired as she was, having to talk about subject matters this heavy had really made its toll on her emotionally.

"No need to thank me." Willow felt herself say as she tried to swallow the lump in her throat. She had heard her voice start to crack and her composure slacken. "It's what anyone would do."

"The next station will be Norbury." Willow jumped at the announcement. Time had flown whilst talking to Sam and she was arriving at her station.

"I'm sorry Sam, this is my stop." The train halted at the platform and Sam frowned slightly.

"Wouldn't you be better getting off at East Croydon?" Willow used the pole to lift herself out of her seat and flashed him a weak smile.

"Like I said, it's easier to get off of here. Please look after yourself." Not knowing what else to do, she gave him a weak wave and staggered out of the train. As her second foot landed on the platform, the train had announced its final call to the station.

"Wait!" She heard Sam cry out. Willow turned to find him out of his seat. Her train ticket in his hand. "Here, you dropped this." The chime sounded to signal that the train would be leaving. Sam's hand was outstretched to give her the train pass and his wrist was visible from the sleeve. Willow then noticed something that she hadn't seen anyone else wear besides herself. He had the same wristband as her and it was what the Doctor called a 'Vortex Manipulator'.

"How did you get that?" Willow cried out and Sam's hand snapped back. The doors closed in front of her before he had a chance to reply. She went to bang on the doors but the train had already started to move.

"No! Wait!" Her efforts were futile. Sam disappeared out of sight, and the train continued to pick up speed as it headed towards East Croydon station.

"Goddammit!" Willow yelled in frustration. Not only had she missed an opportunity to talk to Sam about the origins about that wristband but she had also lost her train pass. From Sam's reaction, he clearly hadn't wanted her to know about it either and Willow understood that to mean that he understood its functions. Perhaps he was just like her and don't want anyone else to take it away from him. She couldn't blame him for it.

With a groan, Willow made her way towards the ticket barriers. She hoped that they were open. It was the middle of the day with skeleton staff and it was the opportune time to not have a ticket.

As she arrived to the barriers however, Willow realized that the dates were not on her side. The barriers were closed and only released with valid tickets and there was a ticket guard standing by the entrance of the station. She wondered what would happen if they caught her not having a ticket. She never particularly paid attention to the warning signs occasionally plastered on the trains or station platforms to warn others. She had never planned on being in this kind of situation.

A woman brushed past Willow to exit the station and in that moment, she got an idea. Willow hastily followed after the woman and threw her hand in her pocket to rummage for an imaginary ticket. She was going to try and run through the barriers before they shut.

The woman in front of her paid using her prepaid card on the scanner of the barrier and the barriers threw themselves open. Willow knew she had never been known as stealthy at all in her life but she curved her hand and quickly slammed it on the scanner too so she could play under the false pretense of having used her ticket. She made quick step of exiting the barrier behind the woman, but what she hadn't expected was just as she was taking her final step out, the barriers tried to slam themselves shut on her. She felt herself winded at the impact but she forcefully pushed herself out. The woman in front of her had already left the station.

"Oi! Whatcha think you're doing?!" The Ticket guard had noticed her behaviour and Willow felt her heart sink. She should've known it would've backfired given her recent luck.

"I'm sorry but I have to go!" Willow cried out, in her attempt to escape she tried to maneuver her way around the guard to exit the building but he mirrored her movements and kept himself in front of her.

"Where's your ticket?" Of all days, it had to be a guard that didn't turn a blind eye on his job. Willow wasn't sure what to do. She couldn't play it off that she only spoke Chinese now that she had already spoke in English.

"Wait, do I know you?" The man asked her, his voice had softened for a split second from his confusion.

"Please, I'm sorry! I'll come back and bring my purse to pay for the ticket." The guard paused for a brief moment and contemplated for a moment. For a moment, Willow thought she'd be able to get away but his face had hardened.

"Please come with me." He beckoned her through a door that had a sign signaling no access for the public. The guard led her to a room that had clearly been used as a staff room and locked the door behind him.

"Please make yourself comfortable whilst we wait for the authorities." Willow felt her pulse quicken. What could she do? She was stuck. She watched the guard leave through the other door, no doubt towards the ticket issuing counter to make the phone call.

It hadn't taken the police long to respond. In less than ten minutes, two policemen were ushered into the room by the same guard that had placed her into the room.

"Ms Smith?" One of the policemen had asked. Willow couldn't help but frown slightly. She hadn't given them her name, nor ID. She hadn't had any on her.

"...Yes?" She answered. Apprehension was visible in her voice and the policemen didn't seem to be fazed. The one that had spoken to her turned to his colleague.

"Jerry, please go and contact the station." Jerry nodded.

"Alright Steve." Jerry nodded towards Willow and took his leave through the same door that they'd arrived through.

"I'm sorry." Willow found herself saying. She really didn't want to go to the station over a measly ticket. "I really shouldn't have tried to do a runner but I lost my pass but in all honesty, these things do happen and I panicked." Steve raised a brow. It was as though the ticket hadn't been on his mind.

"Are you not aware of the date Ms Smith?" He asked her politely. It was kinder than she had expected.

"It's early April. Why?" She wasn't sure how the date had mattered.

"We've had you registered as a missing person. Were you not aware?" The penny dropped and let out breathe she didn't know she was holding.

"My family called the police?" Her father wasn't one to call the authorities. He had lost faith in them after failing to catch the terrorists that had killed her mother.

"Is it really that unusual? You were gone for such a large length of time that we all presumed..." He shook his head and decided to change what he was about to say. "It became big headlines since Mr Saxon sponsored the funds to increase our chances to find you. It's really thanks to him that we could have so many people on the beat to search for you."

"Mr Saxon? Who is he?"

"Well, he's the Conservative party leader. He's gunning for Prime Minister. How do you not know that?" Steve raised a brow. "It's all over the news and it had been for a couple of months now."

"I guess it must've just slipped my mind." Willow lied. She hadn't recalled his name, let alone watched much tv since arriving back in England.

A ring echoed the room and it was Steve's phone. He gave her an apologetic look as he flipped open his phone.

"Webb here. Correct... Of course. Send the address over." He hung up the phone. "My apologies. My colleagues down in the station have called and requested us to visit your sponsor."

"I'm sorry?" Willow ran a hand through her hair. It wasn't something she'd normally do but the stress of the ongoing situation left her needing to do something with her hands. "I just want to go home."

"And you will do, right after you've met him. I promise."

oOo

The journey to Saxon's house was uneventful in the back of the police car. Never in her life would she have imagined that she would've been in this predicament with her record. She had never missed any payments, caused any harm to another human being (regardless of how much she wanted to), nor partook in any public event that could lead to anarchy.

Once they had arrived at an office in Greenwich, the car parked inside the gated fence and Jerry opened up her side of the door. He beckoned her out.

This hadn't been what Willow wanted to do, however she felt compelled to follow them along. The Doctors warning about going straight home was in the back of her thoughts. Could this had been what he had warned her about? What else was she to do but comply? She could try to run away but as she turned to face the entrance, the noticed the gates close. There goes her briefly thought out escape plan.

As they entered the building, Willow noticed the atmosphere suddenly intense. There were plenty of staff in entrance hall, many of whom wore suits and were walking into the other rooms. It must've been another conservative office, more specifically the borough of Greenwich office.

Steve called for one of the members of staff for attention and asked for the location of Saxon whilst Willow continued to gaze upon the room. There was something amiss but she couldn't place her finger on it.

"Please come along, Ms Smith." Steve beckoned. He waited until her eyes travelled to his before walking towards the stairs. Willow in tow.

"Mr Saxon, here is Willow Smith." Steve addressed after knocking on the open door. Willow leaned over the side to look past Steve. The man Steve had addressed sat by his desk. He looked the most humane out of everyone they had walked past in the building. The others were almost robotic.

"Well done guys. Thank goodness we had some good news. It's all thanks to your great work." Saxon gave a chilling smile to both Steve and Jerry, whom thought nothing of it.

"Well, thank you very much Sir." Jerry spoke. Pink visible on his ears. "It's all thanks to your help that we were able to find her." She wanted to correct them and say that it was the ticket guard and her lack of ticket but she found herself unable to speak. Something was wrong about this.

"If it'd would be if no trouble. I'd love to be able to get to know Ms Smith by myself, if you please. Afterwards, let's call her family and the press. I'm sure everyone will be ecstatic to hear that she's been found."

"Of course sir." Steve nodded in compliance before turning to Willow. "We'll wait for you outside, Ms Smith." She wanted to beg them not to leave her with him though no words were said. She didn't feel safe. Normally missing people would be sent home before meeting others, right? Not the other way around. She could feel Saxon's gaze on her as she helplessly watched the both Jerry and Steve leave the room and close the door behind them.

"Thank you for coming to meet me, Ms Smith. I've been looking for you, for a long time now." She felt a shiver down her spine before turning to face Saxon.

He hadn't looked out of the ordinary. His dark hair had grown out of a buzz cut and his face held a days growth of stubble. His honey colored eyes sparkled with joy, though his face showed something opposite that Willow couldn't place. Distaste? Hatred? Either way, he wasn't looking at her as fondly as she would've expected. Willow felt her voice return.

"Thank you for being my Sponsor, Mr Saxon but it really wasn't necessary."

"Nonsense. I believe it was. You had gone missing for three weeks, Ms Smith." He announced as he stood from his seat. His eyes never wavering off of her, as though he were a predator hunting his prey.

"That's hardly a worry for an adult. However I do have to ask why me? There are plenty missing people in the country." Willow found herself asking. She wasn't sure what compelled her to do so given his dislike for her already. Had they met before? She didn't recognize him.

"Your belongings left behind. Your family never hearing you leave. It's rather peculiar. As though, you disappeared off of this world." He noted he spoke carefully. He intended for her to understand his words. Saxon knew what had happened to her. Willow took a step back. She had been alone in her room when she left. How could he have known?

"I don't understand..." She found herself saying. Her voice shook. He frightened her.

"Leaving a child to fend for himself can do wonders on his self esteem." Willow's heart stopped.

"Koschei?" She heard herself ask. It was as though her mind and her words were in sync. She hadn't had time to process the name she had called out before he had started to laugh. A deep, cold laugh that echoed in the room.

"I don't know whether I should be angry or flattered that you can recall my name. Though, for you it has only been a day. For me, it's been a lot longer." He stalked around the desk, his eyes not leaving hers. "Not once in a single day have I forgotten." Willow took a step forward. A mixture of exhaustion, fear, guilt and desperation took hold of her as tears fell down her face.

"I'm sorry." Her apology only seemed to infuriate him more.

"Why did you leave me? Why did you only take him?!" He bellowed at her. She understood now that he felt betrayed.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know!" She repeated. "How could I?! I wasn't from your world. I called out to you but you didn't... you didn't..." She couldn't finish her words. A part of her knew that he couldn't have moved. He had been in a trance. If he had heard her calls he would've known that she had tried to help him.

"You're sorry." Saxon laughed coldly. "I was left there to suffer and have this bloody ringing stuck in my head for centuries and all I get is a sorry whilst the Doctor has everything." With his hand, he swung at his desk. His papers sent flying.

"What are you talking about?!" Willow yelled back at him. Her tears intensified. "I wanted to help you too! Let me try! I can try and go back." Saxon ignored her words. She hatred shone in his eyes would make anyone cower under his gaze.

"You wanted the Doctor, you'll can have him, but you're going to suffer for it just like I have!" Koschei spat out the Doctors name in venom. His words full of disgust. He hated them. He hated them for everything that had happened. They were to blame for it all.

"Koschei, I wanted to save you too! Let me help you!" Willow begged. This wasn't what was supposed to have happened. She could try and go back in time. Surely he knew that. She didn't want things to end this way between them. The Doctor, no. Theta. Theta was safe. He pulled through. Why was she so helpless in saving Koschei?

"You've done enough damage." He pulled out a screwdriver that looked similar to the Doctor's however instead of it being sonic, a laser came out of the end and blasted the device on her wrist. It made a loud beeping noice and electricity spilled out. Willow to cried out in pain. She tried to pull off the device but it didn't budge. She looked up to see a menacing smile on The Master's face.

"Bye bye~" Within a second she was thrown yet again into the vortex.


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, 
> 
> I’m so sorry that I haven’t posted in a little while. Grief really hit me after losing my granddad and since Willow is still trying to cope with the death of her mother, it really hit home for me. It’s taken me ages to be able to get back into writing this story but I’m going to try and update again once a month. I’ve already started the next chapter as well. I hope you all enjoy and please let me know what you think.

As though she were flicking through various channels on the television, Willow was thrown into the vortex. Flashes of images visualized in her minds eye but disappeared before she could process it. Unexplainable flashes appeared before her eyes and disappeared before she could process them.

She saw many faces along with a couple that she recognized. The faces flashed so fast that it was impossible to count how many she saw. As soon as her mind attempted to process, she was pulled elsewhere and the previous flash was left forgotten. Echoes of voices filled her mind.

_“There’s always something to look at if you open your eyes!”_

_“Will!”_

_“A little gratitude wouldn’t irretrievably damage my ego...”_

_“Our destiny is the stars, so let’s go and search for it.”_

_“Willow!”_

_“Every great decision creates ripples...”_

_“Willow! Don’t move, I’ll...”_

_“In the end, every living thing has the same instinct...”_

_“Willow! I’m here. Don’t....-“_

_“Would you like a jelly baby?”_

_“We’re all stories in the end.”_

_“Willow!”_

The motion stopped and Willow opened her eyes.

No longer was she in Koschei’s office back in London.

Cold pale blue eyes bore down at her two feet away from where she stood. The familiar strong cheekbones, the buzz cut hair along with the leather jacket. It was the other Doctor. His other face. The Doctor that didn’t particularly know her.

“Doctor!” Willow called out towards him. Next to him stood Rose, her large brown eyes had widened to resemble a deer in headlights. Behind them, the planet behind them slowly dying. It didn’t take a fool to realize by Rose’s tears with her hands clutched onto her phone that it had been Earth. The shuttle they were in had darkened, the light from the dying planet shone inside to illuminate their figures. The Doctor made no move towards her and Willow choked back a sob.

“Help me, _please_!” Rose took a step forward and the Doctor grabbed her arm and pulled her back. His eyes never left Willow’s and she was forced to choke back a sob. Rose tried to pull her hand away but the Doctor didn’t budge.

The familiar tug returned and Willow heard herself scream and the sickening feeling of being pulled into another timeline appeared. It would be a long time before she could forget the cold look he gave her. Had he forgotten their conversation back on the Tardis a while back?

The next second, Willow was thrown into intense heat. It was the type of temperature that you’d expect to find if you travelled to Dubai. She found herself surrounded by sand, as far as the eye could see. In front of her, a shell of a burnt out bus stood. There were multiple voices, but none that she recognized. The was a pause, until she felt a small tingle of hope.

“-outside? Who’s out there?!” The familiar voice of The Doctor had drifted into her line of hearing. She waited with baited breath.

A face that she had grown accustomed to popped his head out the wrecked bus and Willow felt an immense sense of relief. She let out the breathe that she had been holding. It was her Doctor. Not the Doctor that seemed to hate her but the Doctor that was her friend. His eyes lit up at the sight of her.

“Wills!” He jumped out of the bus with little to no difficulty, with his eyes never leaving hers.

As Willow tried to speak again, the lump had returned in her throat and her eyes flooded with tears. When she was this Doctor, she felt _safe_. In such a short amount of time, she trusted him. Them risking their life to stop aliens in a school worked wonders on building trust between them.

“What’s wrong?! What’s happened?!” The Doctor’s smile had faded and before waiting for a response, he ran towards her.

Willow’s legs wobbled as she tried to take a step forward. All energy had drained from her and she knew without even trying that she had no energy left in her to walk or reply to him.

It was only until his hand had been inches away from her did she feel the tug again.If this was her fate for the rest of her life, she’d rather someone put her out of her misery right now. She tried to stretch and grab onto the Doctor before she was pulled away but it was no use. The Doctor and the scenery had disappeared and Willow felt herself close her eyes again on instinct. This time it felt slightly different to the previous. Whilst being pulled into the void, Willow felt like she was being though a small hole as though she were toothpaste. The wind had been knocked out of her and a huge amount of pressure on pressed on her head, giving her a migraine.

* * *

  
“Hey, hey, hey!” Willow’s eyes opened only to close them abruptly at the harsh light which had appeared. Her legs buckled at the same time arms had wrapped themselves around her and the voice in which she heard seconds ago had returned. “You’ll need to calm that down before you burn your life out like a candle. There’s only so much that your body can withstand. You look exhausted.” He pulled out his sonic and used it on her device. The device gave a loud beep and the Doctor visibly relaxed with her in his arms. It was then Willow finally felt like she could breathe again. She gasped in some air as though she had been drowning. Her eyes had adjusted to the light and she was able to open her eyes. Relief flooded her veins once she had taken note of the familiar sights around her. She was back in the Tardis. The Doctor was with her. She was safe.

“I keep telling you to be careful about that.” The Doctor repremanded softly, his tone contradicting his words. Willow felt more tears fall down her face as she lowered her arm. The Doctor used his available hand to wipe the tears away and he gave her a forced smile with the intent to calm her down.

“It’s not _fixed_ , however I’ve managed to stabilize it more.” Willow placed her hand on top of his that rested on her cheekbone. Taking in his warmth as she felt a few more tears trickle down her face. “Where did you come from?” He asked in the softest, most fragile voice that she hadn’t heard from him before.

“You said I could get back home and I tried to go but I was stopped on the way. Koschei, he-” The Doctor pulled her into yet again, another hug. His hug was tight and his attempt to comfort her was not lost.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t stop that from happening.” He apologized. Willow found herself instinctively hug him back, instinctively hugging him just as tightly. It was only until she get the Doctor’s arm slacken, did she do the same.

“What does it mean?” She found herself asking him. The Doctor gave her a saddened look as he tucked some stray hairs behind her ear.

“It mean’s you’re going to be doing a lot of traveling back and forth during my past and future.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because you’ve already been in this Tardis more times than I can count.” Willow flinched slightly when he wiped away a couple of her tears. His behavior was strange. Every time she met him, there was always something different about him. First he was a child, then he was an aggressive northern man and now he was a tall, lanky bloke that before seemed to be overly keen on what she had to say and now overly affectionate. On top of Koschei’s newfound appearance and hatred towards her, it was just too much.

Willow pulled away from the Doctor and felt herself stagger on the spot. Her muscles screaming at her to relax and her subconscious begging her to close her eyes.

“You’re pale as a ghost, Wills. You’re going to have to go for a rest.” He announced. His voice was laced with concern.

“Where would I sleep?” Her voice was cracked and weak.A headache was forming from being so sleep deprived.

“Not in the chair if that’s what you’re thinking. C’mon, I’ll take you to your room.” He tugged her softly and wrapped an arm around her shoulders to guide her further into the Tardis. “Even the Tardis is concerned for you. Before you got here she was traveling a little rocky but now she’s smooth sailing.” He commented as they walked through the first set of doors and into a corridor.Willow was too exhausted to care about looking on in awe at the interior.

“Where’s Rose and Martha?” She asked as the Doctor dragged her along to her supposed room. She felt him stiffen instantly at the question.

“Home.” She hadn’t been able to see his face but she could imagine it had been hard. It seemed to be a rather sensitive topic, and she decided that should be left for another day. The first priority would be for her to sleep.

“Here you are. This is your room.” On the door was a golden plate with the name WILLOW SMITH engraved. The Doctor smiled at her confusion, her previous question drifting away from his mind.

“The others got a silver plate. I think she likes you.” Willow tentatively touched the nameplate in wonder.

“She?” The sides of the Doctor’s lips tugged a little more as he placed his hand on the door handle and opened her room. She let out a short gasp. The room was just how she had her room back when she taught in China.

The walls were painted a rich cream which allowed more light to enter the room. Large windows were across the room on the left. Back in China, she would have a view of Yangtze River. She wondered what kind of view she would have from the Tardis, if she even had a view. The flooring was acacia wood and immaculate. Willow often cleaned her flooring, finding the polished flooring beautiful when cleaned correctly.

Her built in wardrobe was next to the door; though how she was supposed to use it, she didn’t know. The Tardis hallway hadn’t blocked off any space for her wardrobe inside her room. Either the wardrobe was fake or magic was involved. She wasn’t sure which it was yet.

Her bed. Oh her beautiful bed, Willow had slept on the floor with her mattress when she first arrived in China. There was a low risen bed that caught her eye but she couldn’t afford it until her first two months of salary. Like her floor, it was acacia wood. It had been five inches off of the ground and Willow had thought it would’ve perhaps been a tad too low on the floor. The worry had been misplaced however after her first night. Along with the memory foam mattress, her bed could only be described as sleeping on a cloud.

Various other pieces of furniture was scattered. She spotted her Vanity table in the corner of the room. Her bedside tables had returned along with her chest of draws. Even down to the personal touches of an old tshirt of hers on the back of the chair was there.

Willow heard a chuckle by her side, inches away from her ear. The Doctor laughed at her reaction.

“It’s the way you last left it. Well, the last ‘you’ from my timeline. ‘ You’ told me that this was your room when you lived abroad. My Tardis was able to find it in your memories and altered your room to what you unconsciously wanted your room to look like.” Willow then noticed a pile of clothes ironed and pressed on her bed. She tentatively took a few steps into the room and lifted up the sapphire blue article of clothing on the top and lifted it up to get a clear view of what it was.

The clothing in question was dress she had never seen in her life. She didn’t dare say she disliked it though. The dress was perfectly her size and stopped at her knees. It flared out at the bottom. Her attentions drifted back to the clothes piled onto the bed and rummaged through.

“Doctor, these aren’t my clothes..” She heard him chuckle again and noticed he learnt on the doorframe.

“The Tardis made them for you. This ol’ gal is good at figuring out what people like.” He stroked the doorframe in a tender way, as though pouring his love and affection into that action. Willow eyed him warily, he must have seen this in the corner of his eye as he abruptly stopped and gave a small cough in his fist.“First, get some rest. I’ll answer any questions you have when you wake up. When was the last time you rested, anyway?” Willow’s gaze drifted away as she looked (yet again) around her room. This time to avoid his gaze. She suddenly felt weak and tired again.

“I haven’t since this all happened to me.” The Doctor left his spot at the doorframe and walked over to her.

“Well, no wonder you look a state.” There was a slight condescending tone in his voice. “Pajamas are in your top draw over there.” He dragged her across the room by the side of the bed and towards the chest of drawers. He beckoned her to open the top draw to grab a pajama set and once she did, he took a few steps back. “I’ll leave you to change and go to bed. If you need anything, I’ll be down the hall.” The Doctor turned on the spot ready to leave.

“How did you know where my pajamas are?” The words left Willow’s mouth and the Doctor instantly had paused on the spot.

“Ah- yes, well...” He turned to face her again and stammered, he was uncomfortable. “Aren’t they always in the top of people’s drawers?”

“I guess so...” Willow contemplated. Something had been nudging the back of her mind since she had arrived in the Tardis. “Doctor?” She called to him.

“Yes?” The Doctor’s eyes connected with hers and she felt a pang of pain from them. She took a step forward back towards him.

“What’s wrong? You’re looking at me in a weird way.” The Doctor took a step back.

“It’s nothing.” He answered instantly. He averted his eyes from her quickly which caught Willow’s attention instantly.

“Did something happen?” She pushed.

“I’ve just had a difficult year.” The Doctor answered dismissively. Mental walls built up around him and the tone of his voice gave Willow a clear understanding that, this was the furthest their conversation would be tonight.

“Well...” She paused. She tried to think of a better way to put her feelings into words but all that could come out was, “thank you.”

“What for?” The Doctor raised a brow. His eyes were back on her and he looked confused.

“For being here when I need you.” Without warning, he took a step forward and wrapped her into his arms. The hug had been so tight that Willow’s air supply had been cut. She had a suspicion that it had been him that needed the physical contact more than her. She hugged him back for a brief moment before he pulled away from her and recomposed himself. He gave a small awkward cough.

“Goodnight Wills.”   
  


* * *

Willow had no idea how long she slept. She had no view from her windows, nor a sign to indicate how long she slept. As though the Tardis knew her every moment, it had dulled the lights out the windows as soon as her head hit the pillow. Once she woke, she windows gradually lit up again.

She looked down at her wrist. The device still strapped on. Would she ever be able to go home? What had Koschei done to her?

Something warm and wet trailed down her face as she bit back a sob. How could she just leave her family the way she did? It was a completely different situation from leaving to go to China. She was unexpectedly thrown into Theta and Koschei’s life and she shouldn’t have gotten involved. She should’ve never found the boys. Her father had been known for his terrible gift giving over the years. This had been no different.

For what felt like hours, Willow allowed herself to calm. From what she could gather, the Doctor already knew her relatively well. She had already used this room before. She could tell by the book that was on her bedside table. It was half read and she had never heard of the title in her life.

Deciding it was probably best not to stay cooped into her room for too long. Willow opened the side door in her room to the bathroom and freshened up. Once decent, she left her room and explored the corridors that she had been too tired to take an interest in yesterday. How she thought she’d be able to find her way back to her room, she didn’t know. The corridors were an endless maze.

After walking for what felt like the length of a football pitch, Willow found herself in the kitchen. She hadn’t realized just how hungry she was until her stomach made a loud noise and she felt the familiar pang of hunger in her gut. She almost salivated at the sight of eggs in the refrigerator and she made quick work of cooking them scrambled. She barely chewed as she ate her food, she was so hungry.

After finishing her food and cleaning the dishes, she made her way through the Tardis. Willow could barely remember walking through the night before with The Doctor but she allowed her legs to carry her aimlessly through.

As though it were in her subconscious, she was able to find her way back to the console room. The Doctor was stood in the center with his back to her, shoulders slumped. She took a few silent steps forward.

The Doctor’s jerked and stood straight as though alerted to her presence. He turned his head slightly to her an almost convincing fake smile.

“Wills, did you have a good sleep? You slept nearly a full day!” Unable to find her voice, Willow gave the Doctor a meek nod and looked around the room. Her eyes aimlessly wandering around to find something that caught her eye. She didn’t want to be here. After what had happened with Koschei, all she wanted was to wrap into her grandmother’s arms and cry. She had disappeared for three weeks and she dread to think how her grandmother reacted. Three days were the general consensus of being found before being presumed being dead. She knew her father had alcohol and his gambling addiction to keep him busy but her grandmother had already lost too many people in her life for her missing to take its toll. She felt her eyes sting and she blinked away the onslaught of tears that tried to battle their way out. It was then, that Willow noticed a slip of paper in the corner of her eye.

On the dashboard was a picture. It was a picture of both her and the Doctor together. It was the same Doctor she was with now. His arm was around her, and she leant on his shoulder. She had never seen herself smile that wide since her mother passed away, nor the Doctor. Was that her future?A future of them both together and she could no longer find her way home? It felt that way at least.

“That picture...” Willow found her voice croak. Her voice screamed at her for barely being used since she woke. Her trembling fingers picked up the picture and the Doctor’s eyes widened wide as saucers as his hand hand shot out. He roughly took it from her hands before quickly shoving it into his pocket, but the damage had been done.

“You shouldn’t look at it.” The Doctor Warner but Willow frowned. She didn’t like being told what to do if she could help it. It made her want to look at the picture even more.

“It was a picture of us together.” She announced. The Doctor nodded.

“Yes.” He answered. As though to try and end the conversation as quickly as it started, he turned his back to her and started to fiddle with the dashboard as he pressed some buttons. Willow was sure he had started doing it just to look like he was busy and she moved to try and get into his line of sight.

“Why can’t I look at it?” Willow asked, frustration evident in her tone.

“Because it hasn’t happened for you yet.” The Doctor answered matter-of-factly as though speaking to a child.

“No kidding, but why does that matter? If you have it, it means that it’s going to happen anyway.” She countered. Willow didn’t care how annoying it made her sound. She was fed up. She wanted to go home and she hated that she felt as though everything was being kept from her. The Doctor glanced in her direction and sighed defeatedly.

“I hadn’t expected meeting you this young now of all times.” There was a slight bitterness in his tone.“What great timing.” He muttered under his breath.

“ _Excuse_ me?” All patience had left her and her previous distress had left her to be replaced with misdirected angers The Doctor seemed to sense this as he turned in his chair and stood a foot taller than her.

“You’re now considered a time traveler, Willow. Whilst you may only be traveling during my timeline, you are still entering different centuries and millenniums. You must follow the Laws of Time.” The anger left Willow as quick as it came and the fists she didn’t realize that were clenched slackened. She was getting an answer from him which is what she had needed.

“There are laws?” The Doctor nodded.

“Yes, and Time Lords have to follow these laws to preserve the history of greater importance.”

“But I’m not a Time Lord, I’m human.” She countered, but the Doctor shook his head.

“Time lords created these laws for everyone to follow regardless of species.”

“I don’t understand.” The Doctor smiled at her softly and offered the chair next to him for her to sit down. His previous bitterness was left forgotten. Willow complied and he sat in the chair next to her.

“I know you don’t but these will be some laws that you’ll have to abide by to keep the balance of time and to avoid paradoxes.” He waited to see her nod before continuing. ”The first law, is to keep linearity. It’s the most important Law there is and it means you cannot interact with your past or future. You cannot change those events. This also means you cannot meet yourself during events either. I don’t know if you ever have done or will do so, but it’s important that you are aware of this. If you are stuck in the same time, you need to avoid your other self.

“The second important law you must follow, is that you cannot allow any object be in the presence of others if it is nonexistent in that current timeline. An example would be that you cannot use your smartphone in the Elizabethan era.” Willow scoffed and the Doctor’s eyebrow raised.

“Why would I try and use a smartphone in the Elizabethan era? I wouldn’t have a signal.” The corner of his mouth tugged. He was amused at her reaction.

“What if you wanted to check the time?” He asked her.

“I would use my watch.” Willow countered matter-of-fact.

“Hah!” The Doctor yelled in triumph and Willow smile faltered. “Wristwatches were not invented until 1868 by Patek Philippe. Clever man but he had a severe case of OCD. Don’t ever spill ink on his desk, he’ll try and throttle you for that.

But this is why these laws exist. We don’t want to cause a temporal paradox. Imagine losing that wristwatch and some random Elizabethan person has it? It would cause chaos! Thepeople would’ve accused you of witchcraft-“ Willow went to speak but the Doctor cut her up, knowing what she planned to ask.

“No. There’s no such thing as magic or witches but there are some aliens that can use word based science and yes, _some_ people would consider that _witchcraft_. Helen Scovell is a descendant of one of them, and that’s why she was the creator of ‘ _Sabrina the teenage witch_ ’.

“She made the show but Sabrina was already a comic book. She just based the events around her daughter and based the episodes and spells on her own experience. How else do you think that show stayed popular?” Willow pondered. She had always loved the witty way Sabrina and made the spells and it was the highlight of her afternoon watching it on Nickelodeon with her Mother. She hadn’t needed to tell him that, she had a feeling that he already knew this by the way his eyes diverted from hers.

There was a moment of silence between them. The Doctor had given her some space to adjust and collect herself after mentioning her mother. He had respect for her, she had noticed this very early on and she was grateful for it. The Doctor had aimlessly looked around his Tardis to see if there was anything else that needed to be tinkered with.

“Doctor?” Willow’s voice broke the silence and he spun his head towards her so fast that she wouldn’t have been surprised if he had whiplash.

“Will I ever be able to go home?” The Doctor ran a hand through his hair. If he knew her as well as she presumed he did, he’d know she’d not back down.

“You go visit, yes. You never stay though.” The Doctor answered truthfully.

“Because of this?” Willow showed off her wrist that the Vortex Manipulator was strapped onto and he nodded. In response, Willow shook her head vigorously. “My family need me, Doctor. I can’t stay here.”

“I can’t fix what happened to you.” The Doctor’s voice had hardened in the finality of his voice. “I’m sorry.”

“What am I going to do?” She resigned herself to ask. If she couldn’t go home, she damn well wanted to know her fate.

“You’re going to go on so many new adventures. You’ll make new friends and be able to see the beauty of this universe.” Willow felt a few stray tears fall from her face and the Doctor wiped them away. She shook a sharp intake of air and sniffled.

“Will I see it all with you?”

“Always.” The Doctor smiled. “You helped me all those years ago. I can finally do the same for you.”

There was a moment of silence between them. It was the first time she felt more at peace with there being silence sincebeing thrown around in time like a baseball. Willow could tell that The Doctor in front of her had been colder than the one she had met at the school. Whilst his appearance didn’t give much away, the slight creases in his eyes did. It felt to Willow that the older he got, the more accustomed he was towards being friendly towards her.

The Doctor had returned to his control console and whizzed around in a circular motion. His demeanor had changed and he looked excited.He shifted gears and pressed buttons in a frenzied motion. A devilish grin had appeared on his face, as though the conversation moments ago never happened. The Tardis shifted a little under their feet and Willow quickly grabbed the bannister to steady herself.

“So where are we going?” The Doctor glanced over at her, the grin widening as he pulled down a lever. Excitement radiated off of him as though he were a child about to be given a bagful of sweets. Jelly babies popped into Willow’s mind when she thought of him. Had that been the Doctor that spoke to her back then? Thoughts trickled in the back of her mind. If she was going to have to stick around before she could go home, she may as well _try_ to enjoy herself. If not, she was in for a lot of mental torture. She was going to make sure she was going to go back home. It didn’t matter how long it’d take.

Willow noticed that the Doctor looked at her expectantly and Willow flustered slightly in response. The Doctor chuckled, finding her behaviour none the wiser as he pressed a few more buttons before speaking.

“Well after having your lesson about time travel, why not put everything to the test.” The Tardis shifted again and almost done a ninety degree angle. Lights flickered in the room the more he pressed buttons. “Fancy a trip to see Charlie Chaplin? Or how about John Lennon? Actually, maybe not. I owe him a car...”

Willow gave him an odd look, which make the Doctor laugh slightly in his own defense.

“A Sontaran was stuck in Abbey Wood studios. Well, John told me that if his favourite rehearsal studio got wrecked, I would owe him a car. Low and behold, I had to leave rather quickly after that.”Willow felt her jaw slightly drop at the blasé tone in his voice. She hadn’t heard about _anything_ happening in Abbey Wood studios and if anything had been a threat to John Lennon, her grandmother would’ve definitely told her considering her obsession over the man. The Look on the Doctor’s face gave Willow a feeling that he knew exactly what she was thinking, the twinkle in his eyes sparkled in mirth.

“Maybe not, let’s leave that for another day.” The Doctor’s eyes light up and he pressed more buttons on the console before hecontinued. “Actually, let’s take you somewhere completely different. It’s not everyday I have you here so.. young.” There was a pause in his voice as he spoke out loud his thoughts. His face scrunched slightly and his eyes looked distant as he thought of the millions of planets in his mind as he processed each and everyone to find the perfect starter planet for her.

“I’ve got it!” The Doctor yelled after a couple of minutes in silence. As though he were in overdrive, the Doctor ran around the console and started pressing buttons. Before Willow could open her mouth the Doctor continued, his face beaming. “We’re going to Venvilia.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thank you so much for sticking with this story and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone,   
> I hope you enjoy part one of Venvilia. Sorry it’s a shorter chapter than usual. I’ve needed some time to plan this chapter out and I’m moving apartments in two weeks. Lots of things going on....  
> I hope you enjoy this chapter!

The Tardis made a final groan and the lights flickered around them for a brief second before returning back to normal.

“We’re here!” The Doctors announced excitedly. He reached over and took hold of Willow’s hand. His hands had felt courser than usual which hadn’t escaped Willow’s notice. It had become a habit of his to take her hand and rather than pull away and she decided that it wouldn’t harm to allow it. After all, he had done it plenty of times before.

As they reached the doors of the Tardis, the Doctor enthusiastically pushed both doors open, wanting her first experience on a trip with him as grand as they come. It was the first time that they had been alone together since her confrontation with his other self in the Tardis.

“Welcome to Venvilia, one of the most naturally beautiful planets within a 100 light year radius from Earth.” The Doctor moved out of the way slightly and Willow felt her mouth drop slightly as she marveled in its beauty.

Situated on a cliff, they were able to look down at a sea of green. Millons of trees covered the planet as far as the human eyes could see. The various shades of the colour swayed gently by the wind and the leaves glistened and reflected the light. As the wind picked up, Willow noticed petals wisp past them and disappear into the forest. 

The Doctor stood next to her and admired the views alongside her, his hands stuffed in his trench coat pockets as he tiptoed slightly on the spot.

Silence fell upon them as they both felt at bliss. The constant jumping in different time zones drifted out of her thoughts. It was only when she heard the Doctor release a small sigh did she break out of her reverie. 

“It’s beautiful.” The words flew out of her mouth in automatic. She heard him chuckle behind her as though she had just made a joke. 

“I know.” She turned to see his eyes on her. It was at that moment she had realized just how rich his chocolate brown his eyes were. If they hadn’t been in such a close proximity, she would’ve missed the minuscule specks of gold that swirled around in his iris. As though in a trance, Willow couldn’t help but stare at the continuous movement of gold dust and it had only been until the Doctor had started to inch closer did it break her out of her reverence. 

“I’m sorry!” Her face warmed as she apologized. “I don’t know what came over me.”

An uncomfortable silence fell between them. Willow, desperately trying not to look at the Doctor in the eye. Whilst the Doctor bit his bottom lip in thought. It seemed as though Willow had been the only one that was embarrassed, whilst the latter seemed a tad more frustrated.

“You know...” The Doctor started. Willow turnt her head slightly to look at him in the corner of her eye, remaining silent.

“You’ve not even seen half of the planet yet.” He put his arm around her shoulders and guided her to the other side of the cliff. “There are nine continents and this one in particular is called Letroena. You always told me this was your favourite place. And there is only one city in this country.” 

As they reached the other side of the cliff, Willow heard herself gasp. 

Below was a city twice the size of London and far more advanced in technology. Multiple skyscrapers could be found littered around the city in various designs that would be classed as too modern for her time period. It faintly reminded her of Blade Runner. In the city center was a lake triple the length of a football stadium. In the center of the lake stood the tallest tree that Willow had ever seen in her life. It stood at least two hundred meters tall and that had excluded its leaves.

“The city is called Maplepoint. Which is know is rather peculiar considering...” Willow cut him up, her eyes still on the tree in front of her.

“It’s a Willow tree.” The Doctor hummed in response, the arm still around her tightened slightly. The warmth coming from the Doctor was comforting. 

“Doctor..” Willow started, she knew without looking that all his attention was on her. She waited a moment before continuing. “Can we take a closer look?”

oOo

It hadn’t taken long to follow the beaten track down the cliff. It was only until they had arrived at the entrance gate and when the doctor saw the web of Ivy spread along the walls did he frown. The grass was overgrown to at least four foot and the Doctor had to hold Willow’s hand in fear that she’d slip and lose her footing and she’s be consumed by the grass.

“Stay with me.” The Doctor warned. “Nature here is different to back on Earth. If you so much as pluck a flower, the ones surrounding them will have something to say about that.” 

“You mean, like Alice in Wonderland?” Willow slipped on some wet mud but the Doctor managed to pull her before she had the chance to fall. 

“No. They were rather pleasant compared to what they’d do here. They only shooed Alice away because they thought she was a weed. Trust me, you don’t want to attempt to hurt any living organism here.” He warned. 

They reached the gated entrance and both of them frowned at the large canisters that were at least five meters high and one meter in width. There were more than a handful of these canisters by the entrance and the wall had a few black guns with a wide barrel. 

“Doctor...” The Doctor hummed in reply and Willow pointed at the guns. “Are you sure these people are friendly?” The Doctor looked at the guns and frowned as he studied them. 

“This isn’t what Maplepoint is about.  _ Why _ would they have flamethrowers out here when they barely leave the city?  _ What _ are they trying to keep out?” Willow watched as the Doctor mumbled to himself. His complete demeanor had been different to how she had met him back at the school with Rose. This one was quieter and anguished. 

“Could it be animals?” Willow asked.

“Potentially. Vibleesties are not  _ known _ to be harmful but they sometimes don’t know their own strength.” The Doctor took a few steps forward and knocked on the gate. He glanced over to see Willow confused and the upper corner of his lip lifted. “You can ask me what they are, you know.” Willow blushed slightly and anxiously scratched her right upper arm. 

“What are they?” She asked softly. 

“A Vibleest is best described as a mix between a monkey and a lion. They mainly eat this planet’s version of mice but will eat something a little bigger if starving.” 

“Like humans?” The Doctor’s smile widened slightly as he placed a finger to his mouth.

“Now that would be telling-“ The door had started to open which caught there attention. “Right, let’s find out what’s happening here then!” The Doctor announced. “Don’t leave my sight.” He muttered whilst applying some pressure to the hand he’d been holding. 

His hand had caused Willow to stop and look down. He seemed to have a habit of taking her hand, though this felt different compared to back at the school with Sarah Jane and Rose. Whilst they were running and trying not to be killed by the Krillitanes it had made sense. However, they were not in a life or death situation and they most certainly didn’t need to run. It made her feel slightly uneasy.

“Who are you?!” One of the three guards had called out. All three wore dark forest green clothing that looked faintly like temperate camouflage combat dress which soldiers wore back in England. All three had guns hanging over their shoulders along with tanks on their back. Only a fool wouldn’t realize that they were part of the army.

The Doctor rummaged through his pocket and silently produced a black leathered wallet and the guard’s back went rigid slightly. 

“Lord and Lady Smith from Estain. We’re humbled by your presence.” He saluted. “We were not expecting your arrival but please, come with me. President Rayford would be honored to meet you.” 

“I’m sure we can pop by. I wanted to show My Lady the Willow tree. We’ll do that after greeting Mr Rayford.” He winked at Willow before they entered the city with the escort. He wrapped his arm around Willow as they took their first step into the City’s boundaries. 

“Lord and Lady?” Willow whispered, disbelief in her voice. “How’d you managed to convince them  _ that _ ?!” The Doctor frowned slightly and pulled out his wallet from his back pocket.

“From the psychic paper.” His face was scrunched slightly with confusion. “I’m always... oh!” The Doctor stopped the realization shone on his face. “Was that the first time you’ve seen me use it?” Willow nodded and the Doctor’s face fell in disappointment. 

oOo

It hadn’t taken them long to travel to the President’s office. The building was situated closest towards the Willow tree and one of the tallest buildings in the city. 

The Doctor’s arm never left it’s position around Willow as they were led up the elevator towards the top floor. She kept giving him worrying looks which he pointedly ignored. Something had been on his mind as they entered the city and Willow had a feeling it was about those guns. 

“Doctor?!” A stocky man questioned as they both entered a grand room at the top of the building. “It’s been a long time!” The Doctor’s lips tightened as he studied the balding, raven haired man in front of them. If Willow hadn't been told that he was the president, she would’ve had no idea judging by his bottled green three quarter-length trousers and paled yellow shirt that overhung and covered his beer belly. 

“Perhaps you don’t remember me, Malcolm Rayford. I was the little boy you helped-“ 

“Ah! Yes! Little Mal! It’s great to see you!” The Doctor exclaimed cheerfully as he interrupted him. “I’m surprised you can remember me from so long ago!” The Doctor’s arm tightened as he spoke.

Rayford chuckled, unaware of the Doctor’s unspoken warning to Willow as he used his free hand to place on Rayford’s shoulder warmly. 

“As if I could forget you, Doctor. You changed my life for the better!” The Doctor gave him a hardened smile before Rayford drifted his attention towards Willow.

“Ah, yes! Willow. You’re how I remember too, though.. I don’t recall you looking  _ this _ young...”

“Ah yes, well...” The Doctor interrupted again. “Willow just used some anti-aging cream from the Planet Argoom. It’s able to take ten years away from your life just by using it.” Willow shot him a look as Rayford hummed in agreement.

“Yes, I can see it now. The cream has worked very well.” Rayford took a few steps back and opened the grand doors behind him. Inside, a grand table stood in the center of the room covered with an array of different exotic foods. The tablecloth could barely be seen underneath as food had been piled on top of one-another. 

“I asked my men to quickly get ready for your arrival. They’ve managed to assemble some of the finest foods for you to try that do not require as much cooking. I hope you’ll find it to your liking.” 

“How have you managed to acquire such a large feast like this?” The Doctor’s voice was calm but Willow detected a hint of anger in his voice. There was something he knew, but wasn’t prepared to let it be known until his hunch was correct. “The planet only allows for sustainability and not luxury.”

“Not too difficult, Doctor.” Rayford replied in a merry manner. “I just had my men go out of the city to find some food for us to eat. It’s how we’ve always done it.” There was something in his voice that the both of them had noticed. He wasn’t being entirely truthful.

“Somethings different, Rayford. What have you done?” The Doctor’s voice had raised, his hands slammed on the table, knocking over a couple of plates onto the floor. Fury blazed in his eyes as he stared down at Rayford and had caused Willow to flinch slight by his side.

“Doctor, maybe you should-“ The Doctor interrupted her.

“Willow.” The Doctors warned, his eyes never leaving Rayford. “As much as I love to hear your voice. You don’t understand what is happening here. Stay quiet.” She bit her bottom lip and lowered her eyes. It had been the first time that his version of the Doctor had given her the cold shoulder and she didn’t like it one bit. It reminded her of the other Doctor she met, cold and angry.

“In a span of fifty years, Maplepoint has grown exponentially to the point where it’s beyond remotely possible, let alone realistic! The planet would not allow this to happen. It’d  _ never _ let you waste this much food either.” Rayford’s eyes narrowed accusingly at the Doctor.

“What is it that you’re implying, Doctor?” The Doctor’s lips curled into a slight snarl. He temper flared with each passing second and Rayford was no longer the cheerful man that they had first met. Willow tried placing a hand on The Doctor’s arm to try and calm him but it had only managed to add fuel to the fire as he shrugged her off.

“Those flamethrowers were not for the city’s  _ protection _ . You’re at war with the planet, aren’t you?!” Rayford froze in horror as the Doctor continued, his anger getting the better of him. “It doesn’t matter  _ how _ many years pass, it’s always the same.  _ Isn’t it _ ?! You’re on a new planet but some of you humans just simply want  _ more _ !” The Doctor spat, Rayford’s face remained impassive as he kept his eyes fixed on the Doctor. 

“Our ancestors lived in a time where they didn’t have to  _ beg _ for food like dogs. I’m doing what needs to be done.” The Doctor took a step forward, his nostrils flared up in anger. Willow held onto his arm and tried to pull him back but the doctor yanked his arm away.

“And yet, look what happened to that planet?! You humans rinsed Earth dry!  _ This _ planet would  _ never _ let that happen!” Rayford’s face had turnt a shade red in a mixture of embarrassment and anger.

“I want what's best for  _ my _ people, Doctor!  _ I’m _ the President! People look at  _ me _ to make this decisions!” At his words, a loud rumble was heard and the building began to shake. 

The Doctor threw his arms around Willow and forcefully pulled her under the table as Rayford staggered to the other end of the room to a built in wall intercom. He pressed on the button and held his finger down as he spoke.

“Send in Forces 1-3-7. Commence the next wave and bring in 0-8.” Rayford huffed into the speaker. Once he finished, another rumble was heard and the building shook more dangerously.

“Doctor!” Willow cried out, her body to pressed against the Doctor as his arms remained around her. “What’s happening?!” He frowned as he held her tighter around him.

“We arrived in the middle of The World war.” 

The minutes rolled on by before the rumbling stopped the the buildings swaying ceased. Once it felt safe enough to leave the table, the Doctor released Willow and they simultaneously climbed out and his hand found hers instantly.

“Are you okay?” He asked cautiously, his voice low. Willow hummed in response and the Doctor glanced over at Rayford.

At the other end of the room, Rayford lingered by the intercom. The voice at the other end of the speaker was low to the point of being incoherent which had caused the Doctor to frown. 

“Rayford,” The Doctor started, his anger beginning to flare up again. “What are forces 1-3-7, Rayford?!”

Rayford ignored the Doctor and as though on cue, the doors burst open. Eight guards had walked in and set their sights on the couple. Both Willow and the Doctor were forcefully pulled apart with protest. 

Rayford watched the couple struggle with bated satisfaction. He had met the Doctor before and knew of his ability to put a stop to things he didn’t like. As far as he was concerned, he’d won.

“If you’re threatening me and my country, Doctor. Then you are a  _ terrorist _ and should both be treated as such!” The power had gone to Rayford’s head. He was a madman at war with the world.

“The planet isn’t going to let you just steal everything from it! It’s going to destroy this city and there will be nothing left!” The Doctor yelled as he tried to pull away from the guards. “It’ll all be on  _ your _ head, Rayford! Don’t let the City suffer because of your actions!” 

Rayford didn’t say a word. He stood and watched whilst the guards dragged Willow and The Doctor away. 

The Doctor and Willow were dragged towards the elevators. The elevator was called and the guards holding Willow started to pull her through. The guards holding The Doctor had stayed put, causing panic to flood both her and the Doctor’s veins.

“Where are you taking her?!” The Doctor demanded. “Let her go! She doesn’t know what’s happening!” The Doctor yelled in a panicked voice. His hand was outstretched you try and grab her but Willow was out of arms reach. 

“Doctor!” Willow’s voice broke as she tried to pull away from the guards but they were too strong. She felt them yank her back into place and as though she were a sack of potatoes, her body complied. Tears fell down her face as she helplessly looked at the Doctor. 

“Willow. I’ll find you.” The Doctor promised as the doors dinged and closed. A sudden burst of pressure hit Willow at the back of her neck, and her world went black.


End file.
